Darkness Brings Two Together
by squirreldemon
Summary: TK and Kari get into an enormous fight right before the Kamiyas move. Three years later TK heads to America to find Kari and gets wrapped up in more than he could ever have imagined, because it’s almost high tide in the Dark Ocean and he and Kari are goin
1. Outset

Darkness Brings Two Together

Note- this story takes place roughly seven years after the end of 02, at the beginning of the summer before TK and Kari begin college.

Chapter 1: Outset

'Never leave anything unsaid when someone leaves, because you never if you'll ever see them again. A few unsaid words could haunt you for life and cause more hurt than you would believe.'

Somebody had told him that once, most likely Joe. For three years now those two sentences had haunted him, plagued his dreams, infested his thoughts and driven him mad with grief. All because he was too stupid and pigheaded to say two words, two simple words; and so the Kamiyas had moved to America he never heard from any of them again. All of this pain and hurt because he hadn't thought to say sorry until it was too late. The idea that for want of two simple words he had lost the love of his life was almost laughable, if he ever really laughed anymore he might have.

Today however he changed that. Today he was leaving to find her, and nothing short of the apocalypse would stop him; and even it would be hard pressed to do so.

"Going somewhere?" a voice asked from the doorway.

TK didn't bother to look up; he already knew who the voice belonged to. "Don't you have a tour to go on or a concert to practice for or something Matt?" he asked irritably, he knew exactly why Matt was here.

Matt cut right to the point, "She doesn't want to see you again. So don't bother going, besides you don't even know where they live." Matt had kept in contact Tai after he had moved. TK said nothing he just continued packing his duffel bag. "You still have a week of school." Matt reminded him.

"Grades are done," TK said, "this time's just a formality."

"Mom will kill you if you run off." Matt said trying a different angle.

"I'll kill myself if I stay." there was something chilling about how calm he was one he said this.

Matt shook his head in defeat. Sometimes TK could be as stubborn as Tai. Wordlessly he turned and left; he had to leave for the tour in an hour or two anyway, he might as well get a head start. He really didn't like what had happened to his little brother since he and Kari had gotten into their argument, it was sometimes like the two of them were complete strangers. Maybe just maybe this trip was what TK needed to move on, maybe.

Even as Matt was pulling away TK zipped his duffle bag, grabbed a bundle of cash and his airplane ticket, and prodded Patamon awake.

"Whasa matter?" the sleepy digimon asked.

"We're leaving." TK told him as he grabbed his old white hat off the top of the dresser and left the room.

"Where are we going again?" Patamon asked not fully awake yet.

"To visit Kari and Tai," TK explained, "or is this just your way of trying to talk me out of it."

"I'm not saying nothin." Patamon stated before lying down on TK's bag and resuming his nap.

Halfway around the world Kari Kamiya awoke with a start. Panting heavily she wiped the sweat off her brow. Just a nightmare she told herself silently, it was just another nightmare. Still spooked she brushed her now black hair back with her fingers and looked around her likewise black room. Her surroundings probably weren't helping too much she admitted. As she lay down she rubbed her fingers against the old camp whistle she still wore. As she always did before going to sleep Kari silently cursed TK, stupid ass that he was, for ruining her life. If she ever saw him again he wouldn't leave the encounter with all his bones intact that was for sure.

TK leaned back in his plane seat, it had taken nearly two years of begging, pleading, and hard work to get the money for the ticket but he had done it. And so here he was sitting in a plane over the Pacific Ocean going to see the girl, now woman, he loved. It sounded like the plot of some movie or romance story a guy wrote online. In his head he went over the plan yet again: the plane landed in Los Angeles, and once there he would … do something. He pulled his hat down so that it covered his face and decided he'd sleep on it, only thirteen minutes till the plane landed.

In his sleep he dreamt of Kari. Memories of the two of them flashed by like an old slideshow at a family reunion; choppy and slightly distorted, but still meaningful. It was one big loop of joy and sadness, joy and sadness; one after the other forever repeating. After three years of sadness it seemed time for some more joy in his life.


	2. The Cast

Chapter Two: The Cast

Note- I don't own Paint It Black the Rolling Stones do.

"I see a red door and I want it painted black. No colors anymore I want them to turn black." Kari rolled over and hit the off button on the alarm. It was purely a reflex action, she was still asleep. That's was why a minute later the alarm clock on the other side of the room went off. She got up and turned it off, she was still more than half asleep.

Kari went over to the bathroom and turned the cold water on. It was an old habit from before her brother Tai went to college. With Tai out in Chicago there was really no way he could use up the hot water, but she just didn't care enough anymore to change the habit.

She stepped into the ice cold water and let it wash away the sweat and grime of the day and night before. This was also the time she chose to initiate her morning TK cursing. Tai had once said that for someone she said she never wanted to see again she was a bit obsessed with him.

She had kicked him so hard for that he was probably still speaking a few octaves higher. The truth though was that she was a bit obsessed, her hatred for TK was one of the few things that kept her going in life; along with Gatomon, her mother, and her brother. There was also, hidden deep within her and barely ever shown, a longing to see him again and put the pieces back together. She had tried for three years to squash that feeling and, so she thought, nearly eliminated it.

As Kari walked back to her room she felt a pair of eyes on her, "What do you want Gatomon?" she asked.

"I was just watching you Kari, no need to be so jumpy." The cat digimon explained.

"Sorry," Kari told her best friend as she pulled on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, "I'm really sorry I just had a really bead dream last night."

"What was this one about?" Gatomon asked curiously, Kari had been having nightmares for the past month or so.

"I don't want to talk about it." Kari said with finality.

"Oh so it was about when-"

"I said I didn't want to talk about it." Kari snapped cutting the digimon off, before leaving and heading downstairs for breakfast. Gatomon stared in shock at her partner, sure Kari could be short sometimes but she never yelled at someone without apologizing; TK being an exception to this rule.

"Morning Kari." her mother said as Kari got herself a bowl of cereal, she gave her mother a quick nod. "Kari there's a concert tonight." her mother began.

"So?" Kari asked as she sat down.

"You're going." Mrs. Kamiya said pushing a ticket across the table.

"I don't feel like it." Kari said closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair.

"Too bad you don't have a choice in this." Kari's eyes snapped open and she nearly choked on her spoon. "It's unhealthy for someone to do so little socializing," Mrs. Kamiya continued, "so you're going to go there, talk to people, and have fun. Do you understand?"

"Mom," Kari whined, "do I have to"

Her mother gazed at her unflinchingly, "Yes Kari, you have to do this. Ever since we moved here you've made even the most antisocial people look normal, so you are going young lady."

"Fine Mom," Kari said, "I'll go there, and talk to people, and have fun, and I won't be home 'til morning, and before you know it you'll be a grandmother." Mrs. Kamiya didn't bat an eyelash, she had already heard this argument and it wasn't going to work.

Yamato Ishida looked around the stage he and his band was going to play on that night. "An okay place." He remarked. "So what is the other band we're touring with like?" he asked the head of band security, surprisingly, a kid the same age as his kid brother.

Of course Jack wasn't only an eighteen year old kid; he was an eighteen year old kid with and above average dose of cynicism and an odd madness behind his rarely seen eyes, and, never to be forgotten, an odd ability to not be seen if he didn't want to be. "They're called Black Wings; they're like Evanescence only darker." Jack explained. Neither 'Shorty,' the singer, nor her boyfriend 'Big T,' the lead guitarist, would appreciate the comparison; but it was probably a little better than just flat out saying that they were a metal band whose main influences were Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Korn.

Matt studied the tall, thin, short haired youth in front of him; he was dressed simply in a pair of loose green pants and a black shirt with a snake on it. "So how'd you get your job?" he asked.

"The guy doing the hiring was getting mugged so, model citizen that I am," Matt could hear a snicker in the kid's voice as he said this, "I beat the shit out the mugger. The very grateful manager offered me the job as a thank you." Jack explained, he was wearing sunglasses which made it impossible to read the expression in his eyes; but something told Matt that he could trust this kid with his life.

As TK left the airport the enormity of the task before him began to sink in. He was completely clueless as to where in the country the Kamiyas lived or what Kari looked like now, save for a dream he had had of her before he left. In the dream she had long black hair that reached midway down her back, she was wearing a T-shirt that stated, quite literally, that her only problem was her ex, and a pair of jeans. She also had her old camp whistle around her neck. TK was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the two people walking towards him.

The two people were too occupied speaking to each other that they didn't notice him. As such it was no surprise to any onlookers when the three collided and they all fell to the ground.

"Oh I am so sorry." a pink haired girl told her as she got up and helped pull the blue haired boy next to her up.

"Yeah we should have been watching where we were going." the boy said as he adjusted his glasses.

TK looked at the girl amazed by his luck. "It's no problem Mimi," he said, "and … Joe." The second part was slightly more confused than happy.

"Huh, who are you?" Joe asked, and then he smiled knowingly. "TK its great to see you again." he remarked. "God you've grown."

Mimi squealed and hugged TK. "Hey little buddy." she told him. "What brings you to the states?"

TK couldn't believe his luck anymore. Nope this definitely wasn't happening, the fall must have jarred his brain a bit, and he was undoubtedly lying comatose on the sidewalk right now. I mean Joe and Mimi, who could've seen that one coming. "I'm trying to find the Kamiyas, you know where they are?" he asked just in case this was reality.

"The last I heard Tai was attending college in Chicago on a soccer scholarship." Joe told him, there was a warning note in his voice that told TK he wouldn't find a very warm welcome in Chicago. Mimi didn't seem to share Joe's pessimism, all she was doing was smiling; it was slightly unnerving.

"I'll be sure to stop by when I'm leaving." he promised as they exchanged farewells. "Oh yeah," he called back over his shoulder as he left, "make sure you use a condom Joe!"

To his complete surprise Joe yelled back, "I always do."

Melissa was wandering down a back alley of Chicago. "Demi?" she called out, "Demi where are you?" The past year had undoubtedly been hard on her and she wouldn't tell anyone why, not that anyone cared enough to listen. If any of her former friends they'd be laughing their heads off, gone was the hip trendy popular girl that they knew. If her parents ever spent anytime around her they'd wonder where their pristine little girl had gone.

Behind herself Melissa felt an ominously evil presence and she ran, her legs pounding a fierce frantic beat upon the street. It was back and now it was time to run.


	3. Many Meetings

Chapter 3: Many Meetings

TK leapt quickly out of the box car he had taken to Chicago. It hadn't taken very long for him to realize that he was going to need all his money for food, the solution: sneak onto a train bound for Chicago, not exactly something he had done before but it had worked out. He snuck out of the train yard careful not to be seen and headed in a direction that seemed collegey, and like everything else so far left it all up to chance.

Melissa ran like she never had before, pure adrenaline fueling her actions. Her sanity was stretched to the limits and beginning to fray. It was still following her, she could feel It. Her feeling was all she had to go on, because she was too afraid to look back behind her. In a fit of brilliance she ducked into an alley, dove behind a dumpster, and curled up into a ball burying her head in her arms and breathing heavily.

TK leaned back in the chair he was sitting in. His college search had proved fruitless, but he had found a good and pretty much deserted pizza parlor. He was just agreeing with Patamon that the pizza was better here than at home when he heard someone behind him click their tongue. "Well look what the cat, or should I say batpig, dragged in." a woman's voice commented.

TK turned and found himself facing yet another old friend, "Uh , hi Sora what brings you here?" he asked the red head nervously.

"How about you TK; why don't you explain what you're doing here?" Sora prodded him.

TK was suddenly hit by a brilliant bit of inspiration, "You're still Tai's girlfriend right?" he asked.

Sora rolled her eyes, "No, I'm only visiting this country, and the town he goes to school in, and waiting here for him because I hate him." she said sarcastically.

So Tai would be here soon, TK filed that fact away in his head. "So it's fair to say you know where he lives?" TK continued.

"What do you want?" Sora asked suspiciously.

TK took a deep breath, it was now or never. "I need to fix things with Kari." He explained. "The only problem is that I have no idea where she lives."

Sora smiled a smile that was both happy and laughing at him. She wrote something down on a napkin and handed it to him. "Now get out of here before Tai gets here." she commanded.

TK quickly finished his pizza, grabbed his stuff, and paid. He walked quickly down the street in a daze; he had her address, there was no way he could be stopped, everything was perfect. Then someone walked or rather ran into him.

Kari was actually happy she had given in to her mother's wishes, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone. The music was great and she couldn't help but think that she had heard of the main band back home, of course they were from Odaiba. She had chatted with some people from school, and a couple of her brother's loser friends had even tried to hit on her.

Kari walked over to the wall and leaned against it. Her head was pounding and she felt like falling to her knees and screaming. And in the back of her mind she could feel an aura of darkness growing around her. It's just the music she told herself, just the loud pulsing music. Someone chuckled behind her and the feeling of darkness exploded forcing her to stumble backwards.

"Never thought I'd see you again my pet." the person said.

Kari shivered; she knew who it was without looking. Richard. The man she hated almost as much as she hated TK. What TK had done to her emotionally; Richard had done to her physically, and doubtless taken more pleasure in it. She backed away shakily, her hands grasping her splitting head until she felt a wall behind her. In her mind's eye she saw Richard's hand reach out, but it never reached her.

When she opened her eyes she realized that she had been chanting 'No!' over and over. Then she saw Richard's hands clawing at his throat trying to get what looked like a keychain lanyard off his neck. As his struggles began to get feeble the man choking Richard released him and Richard feel face first onto the ground gasping weakly for air.

The man behind Richard was tall and thin with short brown hair, he was dressed in green pants and a black shirt with a rattlesnake on the front, and over his eyes were sunglasses. He stepped forward and reached out. Gatomon was between him and Kari in a second, "Don't come any closer." She hissed her claws ready.

To the surprise of all three of them a skull hopped in front of the man. "Don't you dare lay a paw on him." it warned.

Again surprisingly the man began to laugh. "Your loyalty, bravery, and devotion are all duly noted Skullmon," he said, "but be real the cat could kick your ass, easily, remember your limits." He turned back to Kari, "Now would you like a hand getting up, black haired girl who looks traumatized?" he asked as he reached his hand out again.

Kari took her hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Thanks," she said, "I'm Kari."

"Jack." Jack said shaking her hand. "You wanna go backstage and ditch this asshole?" he asked nodding towards Richard.

Kari nodded and Jack led her towards the door that led to the area behind the stage. As they neared the stage the girl singing gave Jack the finger. Almost reflexively Jack returned the favor and yelled something about later. When they got to the door Kari wondered how they would get past security but, the guard merely nodded to Jack and let them through.

They went up a small staircase and then Kari saw him. He was leaning against the wall wearing the same clothes his brother always had when the first met. Kari lunged forward ready to give him the beating she had always said she would. Kari made it three steps before Jack grabbed her.

"Do I really want to know why you brought a disgruntled fan back here?" Matt asked Jack who was still holding back the struggling Kari.

"I'm no disgruntled fan!" Kari yelled. "You're saying you don't remember me you asshole! Now you're really going to get it!"

Matt scratched his head, "Do I know you?" he asked the girl.

"She says her name is Kari." Jack said above the curses Kari was flinging at Matt. "Mean anything to you?" he asked.

Matt smiled and chuckled a little. "So sorry Kari," he said, "I dint recognize you with black hair." The only reply he got was more cursing, "You also seem to have me confused with my kid brother." he added.

Kari looked away sheepishly. "Sorry," she mumbled, "it's been three years and I kind of jumped to conclusions. You and he do look a lot alike though."

Matt continued chuckling, "Yeah, we both have blonde hair, blue eyes, and are stunningly handsome." Kari rolled her eyes at the last one.

Jack leaned back against the wall and watched the two, apparently, old friends talk. He wondered why Kari was so pissed at Matt's younger brother, even after three years. As his mind wandered an event flashed before his eyes. He saw powder, a plastic tube, a guy on the floor laughing stupidly, another guy apparently passed out on the floor, Kari crying, and a blonde girl that looked concerned. Jack brought his hand up to his head. The headache that had been bugging him for the past couple weeks was back, and with a vengeance.

"Jack, get over here now." Matt ordered.

Jack looked up, the girl was gone and Matt was arguing with someone on his cell phone. "Yes mom, I'll keep an eye out for him." Matt said. Okay mom, okay, bye." he hung up the phone. Matt looked over at Jack, "I've got a request." he said, Jack raised an eyebrow.

TK pushed the girl that had run into him off himself and stood up. "Why don't you watch where you're going." he spat.

"Why don't you stay out of my way!" she yelled back twice as vehemently.

Suddenly she heard something and her eyes widened. She leapt behind TK using his legs as cover. "It's back, It's back, It's back." she mumbled repeatedly her voice getting more and more frantic each time.

TK scanned the night searching for 'It.' Then he saw It: the tall black body, the horned head, the long arms, the hole filled wings. A specter of his past, it was the creature he still had nightmares about; even after nearly ten years. "Devimon." Patamon hissed from TK's shoulder.

Devimon just glared at them for a moment then vanished back into the shadows. TK started after his old nemesis, but the girl grabbed his ankle preventing him from moving. "You're not going anywhere." She told him as she got to her feet.

TK couldn't believe this girl; one minute she was on the ground scared out of her wits, and the next she was ordering him around. "What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

"You are now my …" she trailed off when she saw Patamon. "Awww what a cute little digimon you are." she cooed as she cuddled the batpig.

TK sweat dropped, "Weren't you just busy commanding me?" he asked.

The girl looked over at him, "Don't interrupt me." she commanded. "As I was saying, because you're the only one It has ever been afraid of you are now my personal bodyguard."

TK shook his head and turned to leave, Patamon fluttered over to him and landed on his hat. "Forget it." he told her, "I have things to do." As he left he failed to hear the girl's footsteps behind him. Abruptly he stopped and smacked himself.

"What's wrong TK?" Patamon asked.

"I just realized we have no way to get to New York." he said glumly.

Behind him the girl laughed, "Sounds like you now need me as much as I need you." she noted.

"You could -" TK began but the girl cut him off.

"Easily." she stated. "And my name is Melissa, I suggest you use it."

"I'm going to New York to get back together with my old girlfriend." TK warned her in case she was getting ideas of that sort.

Melissa shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Tell her I'm your cousin." she suggested. She smiled at him evilly, "And use my name blondie."

"TK," TK said, "my name is TK not blondie, Melissa."


	4. Lesser of Two Evils

Chapter 4: Lesser of two Evils

Note: I don't own Starbucks or Barnes and Nobles

The next day Kari walked out of the corner Starbucks and right into the last person she wanted to see, above both TK and Ken in a cape, Richard. "Think you're awfully smart don't you?" he hissed his voice somewhat hoarse. "Having that kid try and choke me." Kari took a tentative step backwards but he took two forwards. "Bet you don't think you're so smart now." he taunted. Then a cane smashed into the side of Richards head and he crumpled to the ground.

"Are assholes magnetically attracted to you?" the guy with the cane asked sarcastically.

Kari looked back at the man wondering who he was. Then it clicked, he was the guy from the night before; what was his name again, Jacob or maybe it was Jake. "Why are you here?" she asked him. "Weren't you part of band security?" she began walking down the street.

"I still am," he explained as he matched her stride, "I just got a new assignment."

"And that would be what," Kari asked, "stalking me?" her tone wasn't humorous and at the same time wasn't accusatory.

Jack chuckled a bit. "I guess you could call it that," he told her, "but I much prefer bodyguard."

Kari shook her head and growled a little in frustration, "I don't need a damn bodyguard." she complained.

"Don't complain." Jack told her. "If you don't need a bodyguard it only makes my job easier."

Kari turned into a Barnes and Noble, "Go read a book or something," she told him, "I have work to do."

Jack smirked and cracked his neck glad that he had a job he enjoyed. "Well have fun." he told her, "Go work your ass off so that you don't have the energy to get into trouble for a couple hours. And don't worry if you don't see me for a few hours." he added as an afterthought.

Kari rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't worry if I never saw you again in my life." she told him.

"You should worry then." Jack told her. "It means someone just took out your bodyguard." He spread his arms wide, spun around, and vanished down an aisle.

Kari shook her head and began to walk towards the workers' area; her shift began in a few minutes. As she did so she saw a person her own age searching the shelves. "Need help finding anything?" she asked as she passed. The person looked up at her and her eyes widened. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, even the dopey white hat; even after last night there was no doubt that this was TK. He opened his moth to say something but only got out 'Kar' before Kari's fist connected with his jaw.

TK looked up when he heard someone ask if he needed help and his eyes widened. The long black hair, the jeans, the shirt that said 'My only problem is my ex,' and even the old camp whistle; it was the Kari from his dream standing right in front of him. "Kar- " he began but then her fist connected with his face.

Kari continued her assault on TK's face and stomach without a care for any counter attack from him. None came, he didn't even attempt to shield himself from her blows, all he did was say he was sorry over and over. All this did was infuriate Kari even more.

The next thing she knew Jack yanked her off TK. "Do you attack any every guy with blonde hair and blue eyes that you see." he spat at her as he checked to see if the guy was okay. This was just perfect, he wasn't here to protect her he was here to protect others from her. Even he had to admit though that the guy looked like Takaishi, a little too much in fact. Trusting Kari not to flip out he let her go and reached into his pocket to get the photo Matt had given him last night. He compared the picture and the man in front of him who was being helped up by a blonde girl. The picture and person were nearly identical; Kari hadn't just flipped out at the wrong person.

Kari suddenly turned on her heel and stalked out. TK shook his head, "That could have gone better." he mumbled as he, Melissa, and Kari's friend left the building.

"You got off easy." Jack told him. "Last night she was ready to kill your brother."

TK's face paled slightly, "My brother was here last night? Why was he here, the concert was two days ago he should be in Washington D.C. now?" Suddenly he realized something, "How do you know my brother?" TK asked.

"I was head of band security." Jack explained. "Then you had to go and run away from home so your brother had me baby-sit little Kari and, upon your inevitable arrival, you too."

TK scowled "I'm 18 years old, I don't need a babysitter."

"Call it a bodyguard." Jack suggested.

"I don't need a bodyguard." TK complained. "I just need to talk to Kari."

Melissa, quiet this whole time decided to speak. "You're not saying your brother's one of the Teenage Wolves?" she asked TK. She didn't wait for a reply she could see the answer in their faces. "That is so cool!" she squealed. "You have to get me backstage at one of the concerts." she begged. "So which one is he? Yusuke; no he's too tall, maybe Kouji."

"My brother is Matt." TK said. Noticing her expression he added, "And I don't want the world to know it Melissa."

"Consider me a friend who kicks ass." Jack said continuing their earlier discussion with TK. "And my name is Jack."

"So Jack, where are we going right now?" TK asked having finally noticed they were moving.

Jack stretched for a moment, "Kamiya residence." he said somewhat lazily.

"TK's mood visibly brightened when he heard this. "I'm not going to give up and I'm not going to lose," TK said mostly to himself, "I'll get her back if it takes my whole life."

Melissa laughed "Judging by her earlier reaction to you it's going to be one short life."

Jack laughed too, taking this time to look Melissa over. She was of average height, thin but not painfully so, she had blonde hair that reached down to her shoulders, a nice pair of breast, and chocolate brown eyes. Also despite the bags under her eyes she looked like she hadn't done an honest days work in her life. Little rich girl he decided. He was really in no mood to think any more, all he wanted was for that damn pounding in his head to stop.

As they walked into the Kamiya's yard, a spattering of grass and weeds around a small raised ranch with a few oak trees scattered around, Skullmon dropped out of a tree onto Jack's head then continued his fall to the ground. He was followed swiftly by Gatomon who landed nimbly on her feet glaring at Jack, "What did you do to Kari?" she growled.

Jack cracked his neck, "Wasn't me." He said motioning behind himself and ignoring Melissa's exclamation that Skullmon was the cutest thing ever. "That was all Takaishi here."

From behind Jack TK gave the cat digimon a small wave, "Hi Gatomon, good to see you again." Patamon stuck his head out of the bag and wiggled his ears in agreement.

"It seems Digimon are a bit more common than I've been led to believe." Jack said with an eyebrow raised.

"Not really," TK said, "we Digidestined just have a way of meeting up."

Gatomon abruptly stepped aside, "You can go in." she said.

"Even me?" TK asked. He had been sure that Gatomon would try and keep him off the street at least. After all he wasn't on the best of terms with Kari, or Tai, or Davis, Matt, and his mother for that matter.

Gatomon leapt onto TK's shoulder, "Especially you." she whispered in his ear. "You see Kari's been having nightmares again and …" TK nodded once to show that he understood.

So it seemed the Dark Ocean may well be after Kari again. Considering that only he could get her back the last time perhaps there were greater things at work here than he could fathom.

And so they entered the house: Jack first, followed by Melissa who was hugging Skullmon like a stuffed animal, and then TK with Patamon on his head and Gatomon on his shoulder.

"Who's there?" Ms. Kamiya asked from a pile of dirty dishes. "Guess Kari didn't take a liking to the whole bodyguard idea, did she?" she asked when she saw Jack, who had stopped by earlier that morning. Then her eyes moved past him to his two companions and she nearly dropped the plate she was holding, "Takeru Takaishi?" she gasped, "Is that really you?"

TK smiled and rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Um, hi Mrs. Kamiya, long time no see." he said wondering how she would react.

Ms. Kamiya just went back to washing the dishes. "It's Ms. Kamiya now Takeru," she said sadly, "Sakyo died in a car crash two years ago."

"I'm sorry," TK said, "I didn't know." He really hadn't and he really was sorry.

"It's okay." Ms. Kamiya said with a fake smile. "So who's your other friend?" she asked.

"Melissa Takaishi." Melissa said. "I'm Takeru's cousin."

"It's nice to meet you Melissa." she said. She sighed, "Takeru, I'm really glad you're here."

TK blinked, "You are?" he asked stupidly.

"Yes, if anyone can bring Kari out of this antisocial depression of her's, it's you Takeru. Besides I can't say much for her romantic prospects around here.

"What about this Richard guy?" Jack asked.

Ms. Kamiya's face darkened, "Richard is the only person around here that has shown any real interest in Kari for any length of time, but from what I've seen he's quite the shady fellow. No one seems to notice though."

"How does Kari feel about him?" TK asked.

Jack gave a grim laugh, "Takaishi I'm a greater treat to your relationship." he said. "And I don't even have an interest in the girl."

Ms. Kamiya nodded in agreement, "He's right, if Richard were to drop dead tomorrow Kari would probably throw a party."

"Why don't you come by for dinner." Ms. Kamiya suggested.

"Are you sure your daughter won't mind?" Melissa asked.

"I'm not sure if she'll care or not, but I brought up my daughter to be polite to guests; no matter who they are."

"So what time should we come back for dinner?" TK asked unconsciously rubbing his jaw which was beginning to get sore.

"About six." Ms. Kamiya told them as she shooed them out of the kitchen. "I'll expect to see you then."

Kari climbed out of the window in her room and snuck out of the yard. Right now she just wanted to be alone; no Gatomon, no mother, no hyper skull digimon, no annoying bodyguard, and no TK.

"WE should go find a place to eat." TK told Melissa as they left. Jack had opted to collapse on the couch and take a nap. "As I remember she couldn't cook instant noodles."

"Really." Melissa stated. She wasn't actually listening though. Her mind was back in Chicago. She was wondering if anyone had noticed that she was gone. Her parents certainly hadn't, and probably wouldn't for another week or so. With a start Melissa realized that the only thing that paid enough attention to her to notice her disappearance was It. She silently prayed that it didn't follow her here.

Kari sighed and stretched, a day out wandering was just what she needed. She was dimly aware that she was probably going to be fired after this morning, but she didn't mind. She was tired of Cliff, her boss, staring at her ass anyway. She stated walking home, a nice uneventful trip home and back through her window with no one the wiser and her day would be perfect. But it seemed that fate was no longer on her side.

A small chuckle was all the warning she got before someone grabbed her arms and pulled her to them. A sharp biting pain erupted in her head: darkness, evil, malice. "Thought you could give me the slip." he whispered into her ear, "Well it's not that easy." Richard ran a hand down her thigh and gave her rear a quick pat.

Kari's eyes darted around looking for someone, anyone. But true to her wishes she was alone, all alone with Richard. Then someone turned the corner and her heart fell further, it was TK. Now she was alone with the two people she hated most. Not to mention that her head was nearly splitting in two. She threw her elbow back at Richard's stomach in an effort to get away from him, but he moved with it and she only managed to turn herself so that TK could see her face clearly.

"What's wrong my pet?" Richard asked as he ran his tongue up her ear. This caused another flash of sharp pain in Kari's head and she nearly bit her tongue off in an attempt to stop herself from screaming. "Don't like being held anymore?" his hand began to creep up the front of her shirt.

TK was shocked when the girl who was being held by some guy in front of him started to struggle to get free. He was even more surprised when she turned revealing her face, Kari's face. Her crimson eyes were screwed shut in pain and it looked like she was about to scream.

TK started to lose his temper when the guy, Richard he guessed, licked Kari's ear. But when Richard's hand began to creep up her shirt he got really pissed. "Let go of her!" TK yelled.

Richard looked up at the blonde kid that had yelled at him. This kid had no idea what he was getting into. He calmly removed his hand from Kari's chest and with a smirk stuck it up the girl's shirt.

TK growled and clenched his fists, "Let her go now and I'll let you live." he threatened.

Richard kept the smirk on his face, this kid really was clueless. "Go ahead," he taunted, "I'll even give you a free shot to the head." to emphasize his point he gave Kari's breast a sudden sharp squeeze making Kari squeal.

TK was perfectly ready to take Richard up on the offer and give the idiot a good blow to the nose. Then he saw the white band of cloth holding a small square of more cloth to the side of his head. It looked like a, very, rudimentary bandage. TK decided that would be his target and launched his attack.

Richard was ready for the inevitable strike to his nose which would let him knee the kid in the head and then swing his foot forward into the fool's groin. Then the boy's fist connected with the side of his head, right where the cane had hit him. It felt like he had been hit by a train. He dropped to the ground as multicolored stars burst out in front of his eyes, releasing Kari as he fell. He was dimly aware that the kid had grabbed her and led her away.

As Kari's head cleared she realized that someone was leading her down the street. She yanked away from them and found out that her suspicions were indeed correct, it was TK. She was grateful for a moment, and then she went back to being pissed.

"Don't you ever touch me again Takaishi!" she spat. She took three steps on unsteady legs then fell, only to be caught by TK. She pushed away from him and leaned against a conveniently placed bus stop.

"It's back isn't it?" TK asked his eyes filled with concern. "It's back and it's eating you up inside."

Kari looked away unable to meet his gaze, "I don't know what you're talking about." She said her tone was unconvincing both to him and to herself.

"The Dark Ocean Kari." TK said. "It's back and it's after you again."

Kari said nothing; she wasn't willing to admit that to herself let alone him. Again that day pain and darkness exploded in her head. For a moment she thought that Richard was back, but the laugh that came next bespoke a deeper evil. She saw that TK recognized the laugh as did Patamon, who until now had been asleep unnoticed on TK's head.

TK grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the evil presence. As they turned the corner the girl who had helped TK up that morning ploughed into them and the three all hit the ground.

"It's back!" she shrieked hysterically, shaking TK by his shoulders, "It followed me here!"

From behind them came more laughter, "Well now," the laughing thing said, "all three of you in one place what luck."

Kari turned, her head splitting, and saw what she was afraid she'd see, Myotismon, the evil digimon she had helped destroy three times in the last decade. Twice when she was eight and again when she was eleven. He was like Nader you couldn't get rid of him. And now with just the three of them and Patamon they didn't stand a chance.

"Thank you Melissa." Myotismon said, "I knew if I followed you around for long enough I'd find the two kids I was looking for. Melissa was on the ground in a fetal position scared out of her wits. TK unconsciously put himself between Myotismon and the two girls.

In a flash of light Patamon digivolved into Angemon. "Hand of Fate!" Myotismon cocked his head to the side and the beam of light flashed by harmlessly.

"Bone Sword!" Myotismon all but dodged this attack too. As the man sized skeleton that had attacked landed however part of Myotimon's cape fluttered to the ground behind him. This also heralded two new arrivals, Jack and Gatomon.

Myotismon's gaze flicked over the human's: the child of light, the child of hope, the child of defiance, and some other kid. And then it swept over the skeleton, angel, and cat digimon. Without a word he vanished into the darkness and was gone.

Angemon dedigivolved into Patamon. With a twirl of his bone handed scimitar the skeleton followed suit, first into a smaller skeleton holding a bone and then into Skullmon.

"Are you okay?" TK asked Kari. The poor girl seemed to be barely keeping her feet, and she didn't argue when TK put her arm over her shoulder to help hold her up.

"TK, I, I'm …" she mumbled her eyes half glazed. She stopped midway through the sentence; there was no way she was apologizing. "Let's let," she changed her mind again; she wasn't going to let this go either. "Truce." Kari finally said, "For now." TK nodded in understanding.

"Anyone care to explain what just happened here?" Jack asked nonchalantly.


	5. Of Geniuses, Prophets, Landforms, and Dr

Chapter 5: Of Geniuses, Prophets, Landforms, and Drugs

They were in Kari's room. All four of them were in there; TK, Jack, Melissa, and Kari herself. TK had just finished telling the tale of Myotismon's last defeat which left Jack as the only who had to tell their own story.

"I was born about and hour upstate." Jack began. "Place was a middle of nowhere town with quite a few idiots, especially around where I lived. I guess than that it almost goes without saying that I kept to myself a lot as a youngster, back in the days before certain hormonal urges." Jack laughed a little at this; no one else thought it was too funny. "Anyway about ten years ago when that whole world in the sky crap was going on I came home from school and found a weird egg and device in my room. Before I knew it this egg hatched and I had a little piece of white goop on my hands, a week or so after that I was taking care of my own little hyperactive skull. Still things were pretty normal, up until seven years ago when a bunch of other digimon decided to use my hometown as a playpen. That was when I first learned about digimon. "Skullmon's a, um," he paused searching for the correct term, "an in training digimon. He usually stays like that because his next form up is a three foot tall skeleton, and it's kind of hard to explain why there's a skeleton in your room. You've already met Skelemon, his form after that, so I'll spare the details. Anyway that's all the digital world stuff I've ever been involved in."

"Time for dinner kids," Ms. Kamiya called up to them from the kitchen. TK's face paled, he hadn't had time to get something to eat earlier, "and bring your appetites with you!"

A cruel smile tugged at Kari's face when she saw TK's expression. This was likely going to be more fun than beating him up. When they got down they discovered that Ms. Kamiya had made burgers; one might say hamburgers but after her infamous fungus cookies no one could be sure what they were made of. Kari picked one up and looked at it dubiously, it looked cooked. TK was busy picking at it, it looked like he was checking to see if it would bounce when dropped; like school food. Melissa had politely declined citing vegetarianism and was now munching contentedly on an apple. And Jack, well Jack was on his third burger by now.

"It's not a can of tuna." Jack stated noting their stares. "I've been all but living off the stuff for the past year." He helped himself to a fourth.

TK took a bite cautiously, "It's not bad." He said to be polite. When Ms. Kamiya turned around he spat the bite out into his napkin, he'd rather go hungry than take another bite.

Noting TK's reaction Kari discreetly put her untouched burger on Jack's plate. She had a pack of gummy worms in her room; they would hold her 'til the morning.

There was a knock on the door and when Ms. Kamiya left to answer it TK mimicked Kari's action and gave his own burger to Jack. They tasted like rat burgers any way. TK tried to follow along with what was said, but it was hard to hear from where he was. However he distinctly recognized the words 'Tai,' 'Koushiro,' and 'Kari' in the conversation. If TK hadn't heard Ms. Kamiya say Izzy's name there was no way he would have recognized the man that walked into the kitchen.

College seemed to have definitely taken its toll on Izzy. He had grown in the past two years and was now nearly as tall as TK. His eyes still burned with knowledge and curiosity, but now they were bagged and bloodshot. It looked like he needed to get some sleep, or another dose of heroine. "Hey Kari." he said his voice the same as always, though slightly more drained and stretched. "I didn't know you had any friends, care to introduce us?"

Kari blinked in surprise and shock at Izzy's appearance she looked almost lost for words, Jack continued eating. "God Izzy," she said, "you look horrible."

Izzy rubbed the back of his neck, the action highlighting just how loosely his shirt was fitting him. Most people gain weight in college, but Izzy had lost it, big time. "I feel fine, honestly. I'm absolutely prodigious." There was something missing from his voice when he used this favorite adjective of his; it was an almost unnoticeable thing, but it sent a chill through TK and Kari anyway.

Kari didn't look like she believed him, but she continued on to the introductions anyway. "Blondie over here is Takeru Takaishi himself," she used his full name and his hated nickname of 'Blondie' just to annoy him, Izzy looked surprised to see them in the same house and both living, "the other blonde is Takaishi's cousin Melissa," Melissa gave a curt nod to Izzy, "and the final member of our merry troupe is Jack, the hungry guy. He's actually working for Matt who's back in protective brother mode. This is Izzy guy's, he's an old friend of my brother and me." She said introducing Izzy to them all.

"The couch is mine tonight," Jack stated, all but one of the burgers was gone by now, "find your own place to sleep."

Melissa looked at Jack in disgust, "Do you have no manners?" she asked. "Izzy hasn't said anything about staying here yet, if he plans to at all."

Jack tapped the side of his head, "Call me Elijah," he told them, "because I'm a damn prophet." Suddenly he smirked, "Plus, the guy's got a bag with him."

"So what?" Melissa snapped. "Just because he has a bag doesn't mean he's planning on staying here."

"Will you just shut up?" Jack complained. "The point is that whether he stays or not he knows that the couch is mine. And the same goes for you" Melissa snorted and rolled her eyes.

Izzy chuckled a little, "At least this kid has a sense of humor." he commented. "I was going to ask if I could spend the night, but if you're low on room …" he trailed off.

Kari shook her head, "There's enough room in here," she told them, "there are bunk beds in both Tai's and my rooms. You can stay in Tai's room until he gets home if you want; Mom loves company, especially old friends."

"So did you come here for a social visit, or did something else prompt you to make the journey down here?" TK asked; despite having lost contact with the Kamiyas he had managed to keep in contact with the other digidestined, save of course Davis, and though things were a bit stretched with some he still knew what they were up to. Izzy for example was attending a technology university up in Maine and a trip down to southern New York wasn't exactly a nice stroll down the block.

Izzy sat down at the table, reached for the last burger, then decided against it. He looked as if he didn't want to say what he was about to say. "There is something wrong in the digiworld." he stated calmly in Japanese so neither Jack nor Melissa could understand. Like the rest of them he didn't know that Melissa could speak the language.

"Tell me something we don't know already." Melissa said sarcastically. "I can, we do, and we are." she said answering Izzy's unvoiced questions.

"What's happening in there?" Kari asked, "Specifically?"

"The geography is being rearranged." Izzy said as he opened his laptop. "I've managed to plot a probable end result and," he paused as he turned the laptop to face them, "you are not going to like the ramifications."

The map showed a large mountain with four different colors swirling around it. Each of the colors represented a different element. "Spiral Mountain." TK breathed.

Izzy nodded, "Precisely." He said. "Right now only one element is actually moving," he told them, "but if memory serves me correctly the master of that element was …"

"Piedmon." Kari said quietly. She was pale and had her arms wrapped around herself, she also seemed to be shivering. Izzy nodded solemnly. "That explains what happened earlier." Kari said, "It wasn't Myotismon that attacked us, it was really Piedmon, he just hasn't finished digivolving."

"You mean Piedmon is here?" Izzy asked.

TK nodded, "Yeah he's here, and it seems that he's been hunting us too."

"Bring me up to speed," Izzy requested, "quickly."

"Us too." Jack requested with a nod towards Melissa.  
And so once more stories of the past were told; of Jack and Melissa's past, of TK's trip here, of their encounter with Myotismon, and of the fight against the Dark Masters. By the time they were done it was well into the night. Jack had moved to the couch and fallen asleep, Skullmon lying in the crook of his arm.

He's pretty cute when he's asleep, Melissa noted; annoying as all hell when awake, but cute when asleep. She was thinking about Jack this time not Skullmon.

"Time for bed." Kari said with a yawn before leading them all to their rooms careful not to wake her mother.

It was nearly four in the morning when TK woke up. There was something wrong with the air in the room. It was heavy and too hot and it smelled funky. After a few seconds he realized that the room was filled with smoke, then he saw that the smoke alarm had been disabled, then he saw that someone had piled clothes around the bottom of the door, finally he saw Izzy sitting in the corner with a smoking twist of paper in his mouth. Then TK's eyes got blurry and he slumped silently to the ground.

At half past four Melissa went down to the kitchen because she couldn't sleep. She could never sleep in someone else's house. Jack was already up, dressed, and from the look and smell of it showered. "Couldn't sleep either?" she asked.

Jack didn't turn away from the window he was looking out of. "I'm used to getting up this early." he told her.

"Anything interesting on your mind?" Melissa asked as she poured herself a glass of milk.

Jack sighed, "I was thinking about how much simpler my life would be if I had just kicked Richard out of the show and not invited Kari backstage."

"Oh poor you," Melissa said sarcastically, "well you did and now you're on the adventure of a life time. Tough luck." She wrinkled her nose, "What is that funky smell?" she asked.

Jack took a sniff, "Skunk cabbage." he told her. He blinked as a thought hit him, there shouldn't be any skunk cabbage here. A second later he was following his nose to the source of the smell; Tai's room. He tried the door but it was locked. "Go get Kari." he told Melissa who had followed him there. He went into the bathroom and began pulling the cotton off the end of a q-tip. They had locks like that on the doors in his house too. They worked by pushing a button in. All you needed to do to unlock them was to push something thin through a hole on the knob and pop the button out.

"What's that smell?" Kari asked as Jack exited the bathroom.

Jack ignored her and walked straight to the door. He popped the lock with the practiced ease of someone used to being locked out of the bathroom and opened the door. A cloud of smoke began to billow out and Melissa ran over to the window and opened it so the smoke detectors wouldn't go off.

TK was still on the floor unconscious and Izzy was still in his corner now laughing stupidly, the twist still in his hand. Jack grabbed Izzy by his collar and slammed him into the wall, "Where'd you get it?" he demanded. All he received as an answer was Izzy's demented laughter.

When Kari entered the room she had run over to see if TK was okay. His eyes were glazed and his breathing shallow. She realized that as much as she hated him, she didn't want him to die. She was only wearing an oversized black t-shirt and a pair of panties, but no one noticed; TK was only in his boxers, but she didn't care. Her attention had been caught by a pair of white lines that stretched across his wrists. She knew what they were, scars. That at least explained why he was wearing long sleeves in the summer.

That was how TK was different from her. After their fight she had changed to reflect how she felt on the inside. TK didn't do that. TK just kept it all bottled up inside himself until he cracked and did something desperate. What had it been, she wondered, what had been the thing that broke him? What had driven him to attempt suicide?

Kari suddenly realized two things. The first was that tears were falling slowly down her face; the other was that Jack was looking at TK's eyes and listening to his breathing. "What's wrong? Is he going to be okay?" she asked shakily.

"He's been anesthetized." Jack told her. Kari's eyes widened in fear, "He should be up and fine in a few hours." Jack explained.

Melissa looked over at Jack, "How do you -"

"When these two are back to normal we're all going to go on a little road trip." Jack said cutting Melissa off. Jack left the room, "Be back soon," he told them, "I'm going to go grab my car."

Kari looked around the room, Izzy was now out cold. "Why don't you try to get some more sleep." she suggested to Melissa who nodded her thanks and left. Kari pulled TK over to and then up onto his bed. She grabbed the chair away from Tai's desk and sat on it watching her old anesthetized friend.

She really hoped he would be okay, she was the only one allowed to hurt him. It was as good as law. She could already see the slight discolorations of forming bruises where she had hit him earlier. Inwardly she was somewhat ashamed now that she had found the scars. Even though she didn't want to her eyes began to close and she dropped off to sleep using TK's chest as a pillow.


	6. Ride of Reflection

Chapter 6: Ride of Reflection

TK woke up groggily at about ten in the morning. At first he dismissed what he had seen earlier as a dream, but then he noticed Izzy lying in a crumpled heap in the corner. A second later he realized there was something on his chest.

TK looked down in time to see Kari open her eyes, "TK?" she murmured groggily.

"Morning sleepyhead." TK replied running his hand through her hair, yesterday's events momentarily forgotten. TK liked her hair black; it better accentuated her pale complexion and crimson eyes. She was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her, if that was even possible.

"Don't touch my hair." Kari complained pulling away. "Don't speak to me like we're still friends either Takaishi." she got up and turned away from him.

"Um, Kari," TK began, Kari glared at him and growled a what, "you're only half dressed." Kari huffed and walked off.

"Get up;" she ordered as she left, "apparently we're all going on a trip today."

TK smiled as he watched Kari leave. He decided he'd get ready after she showered; he wasn't willing to take the chance of walking in on her and getting another beating.

After another hour they were all ready to go and were piling into Jack's old Volvo Cross Country. "Digimon in the back." Jack said as he opened the trunk.

"Think you have enough tuna in here?" Gatomon asked sarcastically as she hopped in. The trunk was mostly full of tuna cans, with a couple small suitcases of clothes and other necessities of life underneath them.

"I said I was nearly living off the stuff." Jack stated as he got behind the wheel. The headache that had been bugging him was rising up again and he popped his last two aspirin. As he did so he heard screaming and saw a gray landscape, the screams soon became sobs, and he saw a dark blue haired boy. Then his head cleared, the pain retreating to the back of his mind. Melissa was in the passenger seat, Izzy behind Jack, Kari on the rear right, and TK between Izzy and Kari. As he started the car up the cd player started too, it was an old metal mix of his.

♪Its twilight and I wake up hot

My body's soaked in a cold, cold sweat

I reenact the lurid scenes

And clawed engravings in my head

Kari was looking out the window when the song started. It fit in perfectly with her thoughts. Her mind was on her nightmares

Oh, I can't punch hard enough and I run

I can't kick high enough and I run

I can't shoot straight enough and I run

I can't hold on enough and I run

Oh, I can't stay down enough and I run

I can't take pain enough and I run

I can't bleed fast enough

I can't die dead enough

It was just like that: she couldn't fight them and she couldn't escape them.

The air is thick, but the oxygen's thin

My heart is beating like a drum, boom!

Ice is flowing through my veins

Explosives on my lips and in my lungs

Oh, I can't punch hard enough and I run

I can't kick high enough and I run

I can't shoot straight enough and I run

I can't hold on enough and I run

Oh, I can't stay down enough and I run

I can't take pain enough and I run

I can't bleed fast enough

I can't die dead enough

Those damn nightmares were always there with her, no matter where she was. The Dark Ocean wanted her and it wasn't about to give up. It was scaring her to death.

I don't know what I'm running from

I don't know where I'm running to

But there's something deep and strange inside of me I see

I don't know what I'm running from

I don't know where I'm running to

Something's compelling me to run into the dark

The nightmares were changing her. She was acting so much differently than she had before, in ways she wouldn't believe. All she wanted to do now was get away.

And now I am more driven than before

And now I live just to settle score

And now I feel the nearness of your breath

Now I introduce you to your death

The more she thought about it the more she realized the nightmares had already changed her. Her black hair and antisociality testified to that. The old Kari never would have attacked TK, at least not so brutally.

I am more driven than before

I live just to settle score

I feel the nearness of your breath

I introduce you to your death

I can't punch hard enough

I can't kick high enough

I can't shoot straight enough

I can't hold on enough

I can't stay down enough, die dead enough

I can't take pain enough, die dead enough

I can't bleed fast enough, die dead enough♪

In the seven years since the Dark Ocean had first attempted to take her she had changed immensely. The Dark Ocean was molding her to its whims slowly but surely. It seemed that TK wasn't totally responsible for all the changes in her life. There was a moment of silence before the next track began.

♪When I was wandering in the desert

And was searching for the truth

I heard a choir of angels calling out my name

I had the feeling that my life would never be the same again

I turned my face towards the barren sun

And I know of the pain that you feel the same as me

And I dream of the rain as it falls upon the leaves

And the cracks in our lives like the cracks upon the ground

They are sealed and are now washed away

You tell me we can start the rain

You tell me that we all can change

You tell me we can find something to wash the tears away

You tell me we can start the rain

You tell me that we all can change

You tell me we can find something to wash the tears...

After he and Kari had gotten into 'the fight' TK had been a lost soul. He had wandered through life without thought or purpose. Until one day when he met a homeless man named Brian. Brian hadn't given TK a sad story about his life that made TK feel that he was lucky though. Brian had instead told him point blank that if he was unhappy he should get off his ass and do something about it.

And I know of the pain that you feel the same as me

And I dream of the rain as it falls upon the leaves

And the cracks in the ground like the cracks are in our lives

They are sealed and now far away

You tell me we can start the rain

You tell me that we all can change

You tell me we can find something to wash the tears away

You tell me we can start the rain

You tell me that we all can change

You tell me we can find something to wash the tears...

And so TK had done what he thought was right. He had scrimped, and saved, and begged, and pleaded for the better part of two years. And then he had left, at that miraculous moment when all the variables were just right. So he arrived at the time when Kari needed him most; and he would be damned if he failed her now, like he had three years ago. TK could see in Kari's eyes that she wasn't mad at him anymore, her brain just hadn't realized it yet. No way he was leaving now.

And I know of the pain that you feel the same as me

And I dream of the rain as it falls upon the leaves

And the cracks in the ground like the cracks are in our lives

They are sealed and now far away♪

And so here they were half a world away from where they had begun. TK and Kari, said to be the best team of all time. Two souls supposedly destined for each other. If Piedmon wanted to come back they would take him down, just like the last time. TK didn't doubt that. Somewhere along the line he and Kari would get back together too, once more the insurmountable team they once were.

♪Feel the sweat break on my brow

Is it me or is it shadows that are

Dancing on the walls

Is this a dream or is it now

Is this a vision or normality I see

Before my eyes

Jack was driving; a nice, straight, drive up the parkway, a no sweat trip he had done countless times in the past. Now however his head was humming and he was damn sure it wasn't going to go and let him concentrate. It felt like he was going to have another vision, not the best thing to happen when you're driving a car full of people.

I wonder why I wonder how

That it seems the powers getting stronger

Every day

I feel a strength an inner fire

But I'm scared I won't be able to control it anymore

There's a time to live and a time to die

When it's time to meet the maker

There's a time to live but isn't it strange

That as soon as you're born you're dying

There's a time to live and a time to die

When it's time to meet the maker

There's a time to live but isn't it strange

That as soon as you're born you're dying

Jack had always been a bit prophetic, especially through high school. Back in those days it had been an on and off thing. His visions were vague and had to be interpreted, usually for quite awhile. They had never been so perfectly clear, nor had they made him feel like his head was going to split.

Just by looking through your eyes

He could see the future penetrating right

In through your mind

See the truth and see your lies

But for all his power couldn't foresee his own demise

There's a time to live and a time to die

When it's time to meet the maker

There's a time to live but isn't it strange

That as soon as you're born you're dying

There's a time to live and a time to die

When it's time to meet the maker

There's a time to live but isn't it strange

That as soon as you're born you're dying...

... and be reborn again? ♪

Jack had no control over where and when he saw, he just saw. Half the time he didn't know what he was seeing, and either way times eluded him. He wasn't good at seeing good things either, so he really wanted it to take a break for awhile.

In the back of his mind something stirred. A giant mechanical serpent slithered through sand, then a large explosion, and a man wearing a black cape. That was all he saw, and he had no idea what to make of it. 45 minutes later they pulled up to a school with a parking lot full of cars around it. "We have arrived." Jack declared.

songs were Megadeth's 'Die dead Enough' and Iron Maiden's 'Rainmaker' and 'The Clairvoyant' I don't own em.


	7. The Carnival

Chapter 7: The Carnival

They pulled up to a school with a parking lot full of cars around it. "We have arrived." Jack declared. "Everyone get out." Jack told them as he got out, they followed and he led them around to the back of the school.

Behind the school there were tents, rides, games, it looked like someone had set up a small carnival. "I got high, you got mad, and we go to a carnival?" Izzy asked incredulously.

Jack didn't answer he just kept scanning the crowd as if he were searching for someone. Abruptly he stopped, "Steve," he yelled out, "Yo Steve Lewis! Over here man!"

A red haired 16 years old guy looked up from a table. He quickly finished his chilidog and walked over. "What do you need man?" he asked.

"This, my friends," Jack said clapping the teen on the shoulder, "is James Bernard. We all call him Steve though."

"Was there any real reason you decided to drag us up here, or were you just homesick?" Melissa asked snidely.

"Will you let me finish?" Jack growled with a glare. "You see, Steve here owes me a rather large favor." Jack explained, "And so he's going to show you guys around while I do what I came here to do." Jack left immediately leaving them with 'Steve.'

"So which one of you is he fucking?" Steve asked simply.

"Excuse me?" Melissa said shocked by the question and the casualty in asking it.

Steve looked away slightly embarrassed, "Okay I guess you're just normal friends." he said, "I really meant nothing with that, nothing at all."

"So why do you owe Jack a favor?" TK asked to change the subject.

Steve muttered something that sounded like, "I'mayingisister." They stared at him so he repeated himself, "I'm dating his sister."

Melissa raised an eyebrow, "How does that work into a favor?" she asked.

"You have no idea what an overprotective brother can do to a relationship." Both TK and Kari said simultaneously, they both knew first hand. Kari shot TK a glare for speaking at the same time she did.

Steve smiled; his eyes were on a ride that was stopping. "These are the rides, the food tents are over there, and those are the game tents." Steve hurriedly pointed out each place. "Now I have things to do. Don't come looking for me either, you don't want to walk in on those things." having said this he immediately hastened away, he was followed soon after by Melissa and Izzy who desired to check out the rides.

That left TK and Kari walking through the game tents. "You don't have to follow me around." Kari complained.

"I'm in front, so technically you're following me." TK pointed out, Kari rolled her eyes.

Unbeknownst to TK and Kari a clown was following them. Not Piedmon, this was a real clown. His name was Pete but in the business they called him 'Bobo.' He walked comically in front of the teens arguing in front of him, honked his nose, and rolled his eyes. The girl shrieked in terror and grabbed onto the guy next to her. Pete beat a hasty retreat; he hated when they screamed, all he wanted to do was make people laugh and forget their problems.

TK guided Kari away from the area and over to a pair of swings by a small playground. He sat her down on one of them and then sat beside her on the other, just like they had always done when they were kids.

Kari was still shaken up. Her teeth were chattering and she had a white knuckle grip on the swing's chain. Kari was terrified by clowns and had been since she was eight; it was her one big fear. Kari exhaled with her head down, "Gods, I'm such a wimp." She said to herself unaware of TK's proximity.

"No you're not." TK said putting an arm around her. "You watched a clown turn your brother and best friends into keychains. That's more than enough reason to be afraid."

Kari roughly pushed the boy away from her, "Don't act like we're still friends Takaishi." she spat. "I can barely stand being near you."

"You're lying." TK said, it was nearly a whisper but somehow she heard anyway. "I can see it in your eyes." he smiled, "Those beautiful crimson orbs of yours."

Kari rolled her eyes, those so called 'beautiful crimson orbs,' "You're seeing things." she told him.

Suddenly and silently TK stood up and turned to Kari. He put a pair of fingers under her chin, tilted her face up, and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "Am I?" he asked. Kari was too shocked to do anything but blush and stare as he walked away smartly giving her some space.

Jack pulled into the driveway of a small white house and opened the car door. Even if the neighbors had cared they would have thought nothing of it; Jack had been friends with Lyle the boy that lived here since they were six. No one was here now though, the Dillions went to Washington every summer.

Jack walked over to one of the basement windows. He got down on his hands and knees and looked around under a bush, a few minutes later he came up with a screwdriver. Jack inserted the screwdriver into the window from and pushed down. With a click the window popped open and Jack wormed his way in. No alarm went off; they had disconnected it years ago. The window was their way back into the house after late night parties, and when Lyle forgot his keys.

The basement was Lyle's room anyway so no one ever noticed. That also made what he was about to do much easier. He pulled out the old travel bag he had taken with him and looked around; he already knew where what he was searching for was. Lyle was a very organized person; everything had its place and that's where it was put.

Jack opened the closet door. What he was looking for was in there, right next to Lyle's porno magazines. It was called Ribodecil; it was the drug that smelled like skunk cabbage, the drug that that Izzy kid had been using, it was the herbal painkiller he and his friends had spent years making. It was a painkiller now on the cusp of FDA approval; if anything got out about it being sold as a drug the whole project, years of work, and Lyle would likely find themselves six feet under.

Jack quickly gathered up all the small tubes of the powder and put them in the bag. He slipped back out through the window, closed it, and hid the screw driver. Jack made his way to the back of Lyle's yard. Lyle was a lucky guy; he had a nice sized pond in his back yard. Jack had a swamp in his. Jack drew his arm back and flung the bag into the center of the pond. He turned and went back to his car before the spray had even finished coming down.

It was over, for now. By the time Lyle got back Jack and the others should be done with their own jobs. Then he and the gang would 'talk' to Lyle.

"What was that about?" Patamon asked as Jack got back in.

Jack looked behind himself, he had kind of forgotten about the digimon. "Friends don't let friends that owe them money sell drugs to friends of friends."

Skullmon looked at him curiously, "Huh?"

"You just witnessed a drug bust; don't mention it and forget it ever happened." Jack said in way of an explanation as he drove back to the carnival. He hoped Takaishi was still in one piece, and hoped twice as hard he wouldn't see Steve and his sister going at it.

Kari was wandering around the carnival. She was looking for Takaishi. She needed to talk to him; speak talk, not beat the hell out of talk. She hadn't seen him since the fool had kissed her.

Even though they had a truce Kari needed to lay down a few small guidelines. First and foremost was no unnecessary contact. Then would come no speaking to her and no bringing up their past.

Unbeknownst to her, Kari was being followed. Gatomon leapt from tree and tent to tree and tent making sure her partner was safe. Gatomon had been the only digimon to get out of the car. Skullmon and Patamon were both asleep, Tentomon was in the digiworld, and whatever Melissa's partner was it had mysteriously vanished a year ago.

TK was also following Kari. He didn't know how mad she was so he kept his distance. He also wasn't entirely sure why he had kissed her. He wanted to believe that it was to make a point, not that was just and excuse. In reality he just couldn't hold himself back anymore and let his emotions do the talking. Sometimes life just sucked.


	8. Down The Rabbit Hole

Chapter 8: Down the Rabbit Hole

Melissa was waiting for Jack to get back. She had decided that she wanted a couple answers to her questions right now. Normally you didn't flip out when somebody you've never seen before got high, then drop a bunch of people at a carnival in your hometown, only to vanish for an hour.

Melissa watched a familiar Volvo pull in, and when Jack got out she walked over. "What's the deal?" she asked as Jack opened the trunk to let the digimon out.

"The deal with what?" he asked coolly as he set off for the carnival with Skullmon perched on his shoulder. Patamon fluttered down onto Melissa's head.

Melissa grabbed Jack's shoulder and yanked. Jack spun on his heel to face her. "What did you really just go and do?" she demanded.

Jack looked her up and down as if gauging her worth with his eyes that, like always, were hidden by sunglasses. Melissa realized that she had never seen him without them on. Abruptly he opened his mouth, apparently she was worthy enough too know what he had done. "Izzy got high off a new experimental kind of herbal painkiller." Jack explained, "I know the man who was keeping said painkiller, all of his stores are now sleeping with the fishes."

Melissa nodded and started to walk past Jack, but he stopped her. "I answered a question of yours," he told her, "now answer one of mine." He took off his glasses. Melissa realized that she couldn't tell what color they were, but there was a power and a madness behind them that bored into her. She hated those eyes in an instant. "Who are you," he asked, "who are you really?"

Melissa looked uncomfortably from side to side. It wasn't as if she actually cared whether people thought she was TK's cousin or not. It was just really hard to say that she was Melissa Drake, whose parents were some of the richest bastards in the country. She didn't want to be treated specially; she just wanted to be normal.

Jack put the glasses back on. "Tell me later," he told her, "we have company."

The others were coming. Kari and Izzy were leading and chatting amiably, they were followed by Gatomon, and at the rear was a rather dejected looking TK.

"Have fun?" Jack asked as they got closer. Izzy shrugged, but Kari and TK both scowled at him.

All of the sudden Izzy's laptop began to beep wildly. He took it out and looked at it; the colors on the screen were swirling around in a whirlpool. A second later the whirlpool of color exploded out from the laptop and consumed them. After that it shrunk back but the laptop, people, digimon were gone. The swirling vortex of colors imploded upon itself and vanished with a soft pop. No one noticed anything.

Izzy was the first one to awaken. The first thing he realized was that something was poking him. Then he realized he was upside down. It took a few moments more for him to piece together that he was in a tree, in the digital world, and that Tentomon was poking him.

As Izzy was climbing down Kari woke up in a very embarrassing position. When she had first tried breathing she had found it difficult. Upon opening her eyes she discovered why. TK, still unconscious, was lying atop her, and her hand was in a very inappropriate place.

TK slowly opened his eyes. "I love you." he murmured and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Kari blushed and slapped him with her free hand knocking him off of her. "I guess this isn't heaven." he commented.

Kari rolled her eyes at his stupidity, "Why would you think we were in heaven?" she asked. "What even makes you think you'd get in?"

"Your hair is brown again." TK told her with a smile ignoring the second question. Kari looked at her hair, sure enough it was brown. "I guess that means we're back in the digiworld." TK said as Izzy, Tentomon, Gatomon, and Patamon came over. The Americans were nowhere to we found.

Jack and Melissa woke up in a dessert. Their clothes had changed on their trip there. Jack was now wearing a trench coat which, judging by his lack of sweat, must have had an air conditioner in it. Melissa was sporting an over sized teenaged wolves shirt and a pair of old jeans. She also had a tongue piercing which she spent a good fifteen minutes extolling the virtues of.

"Where are we?" Jack asked Bonemon who had digivolved while they were out of it.

"I'm not sure," the diminutive skeleton began, "but I think this is part of the digital world."

Jack looked around the sandy landscape glad that he had his sunglasses. "I guess we should try to find the others." he suggested.

Melissa looked around, "This way." she said choosing a random direction. The other two followed; there wasn't a better way to go.

Across the dessert a digimon watched them in a crystal ball. "At last," he said, "The Bonemon has finally come. Now my lord Dragoramon, soon you shall be revived." With that the digimon left its cave.

An hour south of the carnival Richard was looking at the sky. Little Kari, it seemed, had flown the coop. No matter, he would get his pet back. Normally he didn't care much for a girl once they had been used. Kari however, was a different story. Never before had he lusted after a girl after he had taken her. He craved the feel of her skin, the fear in her eyes, her screams and moans, the way her body responded in ways her mind didn't want it to. The only problem was this Takeru she had called out to at the climax. That however was an easy remedy, and when he gained the kingship he so deserved she would be his queen. He fiddled with the small device in his palm; it was almost time.

In Los Angeles a blue haired man was lying in bed with a pink haired girl. "That was excellent." he cooed to her.

"Do you think TK found Kari, Joe?" the woman asked.

Joe kissed her forehead lovingly, "Don't worry Mimi." he said, "Those two are meant to be together forever." Mimi smiled up at him glad that he wasn't being pessimistic for once. "Are you ready for another round?" Joe inquired propping himself up with one elbow. Mimi happily spread her legs and reached for Joe's manhood.

In Chicago Tai and Sora were on a park bench watching the stars. "So when do you plan on going back home?" Sora asked.

"I was thinking in a week or so," Tai said, "Right after Matt's concert. Is that all right with you?"

"Yeah that's fine." Sora said with a nod. Her mind wasn't on this evening though. She was thinking of times gone by and a pair of people who had grown up loving each other. Pity TK and Kari had broken up. Pity no one knew why. Pity the Kamiyas had moved away. Pity TK had no chance in New York. All in all, the world was a pretty pitiful place.

She was brought back to reality when Tai planted a kiss on her lips. Inwardly she smiled as she returned the kiss; maybe the world wasn't so bad after all.

Halfway around the world Yolei and Ken were on the balcony of their shared apartment. "You think it was a good idea to support TK?" Yolei asked.

"For the millionth time Yolei: yes, yes I do." Ken said while massaging his temples.

"Are you okay?" Yolei asked. "You've had that headache for awhile."

To her complete surprise Ken got down on one knee and pulled a black box out of his pocket. "You probably expected this to be more romantic," he began, "but I couldn't think of a better or more meaningful place to ask. Yolei, will you marry me?"

Yolei took the ring, it was a simple gold band with a simple diamond, but to her it was the most beautiful thing ever. "Yes," she murmured, "yes I will."

Matt was in Washington DC at that time. He absentmindedly wondered if TK was at the Kamiya's yet. He thought about he thought about his brothers chances in getting back together with Kari, and decided they were negative. He'd need a lot of luck to pull that off, hell it'd probably be enough to put him in for a crest of luck. He wondered if Kari was okay and if Jack was doing his job.

Two people, a guy and his girlfriend, were only a few yards away. People called the guy 'Big T,' his real name was Thomas and he was six feet eight inches tall. His girlfriend was 'Shorty' a five foot two inch tall super feisty girl half a year younger than him.

"So where do you think Jack is?" she asked him.

Big T looked down at the shorter girl. They had met back when he was a sophomore and her a freshman, she had been sleeping with Jack back then. Big T was still leery about the two of them. Jack was also his best friend. "He said he was being forced into babysitting that girl he brought back stage in New York." he told her.

Shorty snorted in laughter, "Jack must be in heaven!" she declared, "He's being paid to get in fights and get laid." Her beliefs on Jack's ability to charm the girl were obvious; of course she knew Jack's abilities firsthand.

There are two other people concerned with this tale who haven't been mentioned. The first was in her home, a mansion in Chicago, the second, her husband, was on a plane to Seattle to close a business deal. They were Vanessa and Otto Drake. Neither one noticed their daughter was missing, nor would they for quite some length of time. It was no wonder Melissa referred to them, her own parents, as rich bastards.


	9. Vindicated

Chapter 9: Vindicated

"You know it's not normal to be blushing this long after a little kiss on the cheek," Izzy told Kari, "especially if you hate the kisser."

Kari looked away. To tell the truth she wasn't blushing because of the kiss anymore. She was blushing because of what she had felt with her pinned hand. Suffice it to say TK had been very excited, and he wasn't lacking any substance to back it up.

Not that she was the best judge, as she only had one other experience with that part of the male anatomy. And the other encounter wasn't exactly on her list of favorite memories, not by a long shot. She was now blushing for a different reason; during that other time she had cried out to Takeru at her peak.

They were walking through the woods following a pair of signals Izzy had found on his laptop which they hoped were the two Americans. TK and Patamon were at the rear and TK was doing some serious thinking while he walked.

TK had come to America to get back together with Kari. Somewhere along the way he had wound up in a million little subplots. There was Piedmon, Izzy and his drugs, the Dark Ocean, Kari and Richard, whether or not he could trust Jack or Melissa for that matter.

TK looked over at Kari. He knew why she was blushing; he had felt it too of course. Odd that someone who said she hated him so much would be so embarrassed by an accidental feel of his crotch. All it did was back up his theory that she was still in love with him and just didn't know it yet.

They were in the dessert, still. All around them as far as the eye could see was sand. "You're a real living compass." Jack commented dryly.

"I don't see you having any bright ideas, oh wilderness expert." Melissa shot back.

Jack sighed, "I do forests and swamps." he told her. "My dessert experience is limited to the kindergarten sandbox."

Melissa shrugged, "Same with me. At least the desert here is flat." Sure enough the area around them was a large flat plain, of sand.

"Yeah, we're wandering through a desert with no food or water; at least it's flat around here." Jack commented sarcastically. He cracked his neck, "At least it can't get any worse."

"I wouldn't say that." said a voice from ahead of them. A lone digimon rose to its feet from the sand. The digimon was tall and humanoid; it was covered in an old cloak, and held a staff with an owl on it. "I am Magimon." it stated.

Jack and Melissa exchanged glances, neither one knew what to make of this. "What do you want?" Bonemon demanded.

"Your heads." Magimon stated twirling the staff into attack position.

"Bone Club!" Bonemon yelled as he leapt forward, bring the bone he held as a weapon down onto Magimon.

He hit nothing but sand. "Nice try." Magimon stated from where he was hovering in the air. "However a wimpy rookie like you will not be able to win."

Jack pushed Melissa behind himself, "We'll handle this." he told her as he gripped his digivice tighter. "Go for it Bonemon!" he yelled.

"Bonemon digivolved to Skelemon." the three foot tall skeleton grew to a good seven feet while his club sprouted a blade and became a sword. "Bone sword!" Skelemon yelled as he leapt into the air and began to slash rapidly at Magimon.

Magimon deflected each and every blow with ease. "You are still too weak to even scratch me." Magimon stated.

Skelemon leapt back into the air. "Bone Boomerang!" he yelled as he threw his sword at his foe. Magimon dodged the attack but Skelemon grabbed his staff. Skelemon planted his foot in Magimon's stomach and kicked. The two flew through the air connected by the staff. This put Magimon in the path of the returning sword.

Magimon hit the ground with a thud and Skelemon landed nimbly a few yards away catching his sword with ease. "Not a bad bit of luck." Magimon stated rising easily to its feet.

"Not luck, skill." Skelemon stated turning to face his opponent.

On the sidelines Jack began to sift through his pockets looking for something. "What are you doing?" Melissa inquired.

"An old superstition I heard about when I was younger," Jack said without looking up, "something about bringing luck to oneself." He pulled an object out of his pocket, and Melissa raised an eyebrow at it, "Hundred sided die." he told her.

Jack tossed it in the air, "27." he called out it landed a 39. "Sixteen." He said repeating the toss, it was an 86. "Third time's the charm." he told her before tossing it again. "62." It landed a 62 and a small deep green glow began underneath his shirt. Jack missed the next three guesses and the glow under his shirt all but vanished. As he prepared for the seventh throw he heard Melissa mumble something about 'lucky seven' he smiled. "Seven." he said as he tossed it, the die landed as a seven. He had just guessed seven on the seventh toss and gotten a seven. "Lucky seven." Jack said before the light burst out again stronger than ever before.

A glow of the same color built up around Skelemon. Both Jack and Melissa stared in shock as Skelemon digivolved. An old black cloak covered him leaving only his face visible, the sword's handle lengthened and the blade changed position and shape, quickly becoming a staff. "I am Necromon." the new digimon stated.

Magimon smiled, "Finally." it whispered. Magimon flew forwards bring his staff down in a deadly arc, but Necromon blocked. Necromon retaliated with his own slash but Magimon blocked. And so it went, attack and block, attack and block. The two digimon paused in their attacks for a moment floating high in the air. Magimon smirked and pointed his staff at the humans, "Magical beam."

Melissa pushed Jack to the ground as soon as the staff pointed towards them. As Jack fell he yanked her down with him. The beam hit the place they had been a moment earlier and sent up a wave of sand that buried them.

Everything was perfect in Magimon's mind. The humans were dead and now Necromon would use his powers to bring them back; unwittingly reviving Dragoramon, the most powerful digimon of all time. "It seems your friends are dead." Magimon told Necromon.

"Oh are they. I think you missed." Necromon stated calmly. Magimon looked down in time to see a pair of heads poke out of the sand. How had they survived the attack, because they surely couldn't have avoided it? "Dark slash." Magimon spun in surprise and saw the crescent of energy at the last second. It was the last thing he saw.

Necromon landed on the ground and dedigivolved into Skullmon. "I did it!" he yelled happily as he bounced up to the two sand covered humans.

"You sure did." Melissa said patting him on the head.

"Good job buddy." Jack said.

Without warning Melissa threw her arms around Jack. "My hero!" she declared as they both fell back onto the sand.

They were flying now, TK on Pegasusmon, Kari on Nefertimon, and Izzy on Kabuterimon. They were following a canyon out to a desert where Izzy was sure they would find the Americans. The trip had been uneventful so far but TK had a bad felling about it.

All of the sudden the air around them was suffused with the sound of buzzing. "Brown stinger." a hail of brown spikes rained into Nefertimon's side and she fell from the sky. Falling alongside her was Kari.

TK nearly threw himself off Pegasusmon in order to catch Kari's hand. When he grabbed it her momentum nearly finished the job. "Are you okay?" he asked her as Pegasusmon flew over to the edge of the canyon.

Kari looked back at him wide eyed. "T, TK." she stuttered stunned.

"Brown stinger." this attack was aimed at Pegasusmon. He dodged it, but TK lost his balance and the two humans fell to the ground which, luckily, wasn't much of a drop.

On the ground TK saw the Flymon coming in for another attack and threw himself in front of Kari. As he watched the Flymon's stinger get ready to fire TK realized he was likely going to die. Then Kari tackled him from behind.

"Star shower!"

"Electro-shocker!"

"Cat's eye beam!"

Completely stunned by the ferocity of the counterattack Flymon retreated into the woods.

TK suddenly became aware of something soaking into the back of his shirt. "Kari are you," he rolled over afraid that the girl had been injured only to find that while her face was wet it wasn't blood, "crying?"

Kari glared back at him through tear filled eyes. Without warning she slapped him, "You selfish jerk!" she yelled, "What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed." She was now openly weeping, tears flowing freely down her face. "Don't you ever do something that stupid ever again." she commanded. She buried her face in TK's chest, "I love you too much Takeru, I don't want to lose you."

TK gently stroked her hair, "It's okay Hika; I'm not going to leave you, not now not ever." Kari looked up at the use of her old nickname and TK kissed her on her forehead. "I love you too Kari, I love you too." he whispered.

"Hate to interrupt your loving moment," Izzy said, "but there was just some weird energy spike near those two signals and I have a feeling it's not good."

"I'm tired." Melissa whined; Jack ignored her. "I'm tired and my legs hurt." Jack continued ignoring her. "I'm tired, and my legs hurt, and I'm all sandy, and I'm thirsty." Melissa whined even louder.

"Will you just shut up!" Jack yelled. "We're all tired, and sandy, and the only thing around here for you too drink comes out of my cock and it isn't happening 'cause I'm not into sex in the sand!" Jack shook his head and sped up.

Melissa smiled; it was so much fun to piss him off. "So what was that glowy thing under your shirt back at the fight?" she asked.

Jack looked back at her still scowling, "Glowy thing?" He thought for a second and pulled out a small pendant with an animalistic figure holding a spear engraved on it. "I guess you mean this thing," he said, "it's just a good luck charm I've had since I was a kid." He put it back under his shirt.

"What do the little red dots on the digiwhatchamacallit mean?" Melissa asked.

"Read the instruction manual." Jack told her.

"I didn't get one." Melissa said fiddling with the buttons on her digivice.

Jack shrugged, "Neither did I. Maybe Skullmon can help."

Melissa poked the little digimon on her shoulder, "He's still asleep." she announced.

"Why'd I have to get a skeletal digimon?" Jack complained. "Anything else and we could've eaten it by now."

"That's weird, there's only one dot on it now." Melissa said she was still fiddling with her digivice.

"Need any help?" a voice asked from above them. They looked up and saw a giant bug, and a horse and sphinx with wings. Izzy was on the bug, and TK and Kari were on the horse. Kari was smiling.

"Go away and come back yesterday." Melissa called up jokingly.

Nefertimon swooped down and landed next to them. "Get on." she told the Americans. They complied and the nine of them soared off away from the dessert.

In the center of the dessert there stood an enormous, ancient, and decrepit castle. Deep within the castle a small amphibian hopped around; the castle was almost ready for its new master, the new Digimon Kaizer.


	10. The Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 10: The Calm Before The Storm

They were sitting by a lake; Kabuterimon, Pegasusmon, and Nefertimon had since dedigivolved. "You have no food." Jack commented evenly.

"Forget food for a second." Izzy told him, "Tell me about that weird energy spike yesterday."

"You have no food." Jack repeated.

"He's got a point Izzy." TK said with a yawn.

"Well do you see anywhere to eat?" Izzy asked.

"I saw some place over there while we were still flying." Melissa said groggily while pointing over her shoulder.

"Getting food there sounds like a good idea." Gatomon said she was resting her head on Kari's stomach. "I think I'm nearly deaf in one ear now."

"I agree wholeheartedly." Tentomon stated. "Getting food sounds like an excellent idea."

"Fine then, we'll go." Izzy said throwing his hands in the air. "But we're going to discuss that energy spike over dinner, or lunch, or is it breakfast." He grabbed his head in confusion, "We'll discuss it over whatever meal this is."

They got up and after a few minutes of walking they found themselves at a small diner. "Does this place look familiar to you, or is it just me?" TK asked Kari.

Kari shrugged, "It kinda does, but then again so does most of the digital world. Why?"

TK brushed the question away, "It's nothing important." but he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had been here before.

When they entered the restaurant a Veggiemon showed them over to their table. "What can I get you?" it asked taking out a pen and a pad of paper.

"I'll have two triple lobsters please." Jack said looking up from the menu. The others stared at him, "Yes I'm going to eat six lobsters." Jack told them.

"Where do you put it all?" TK asked, "I don't think I could eat that much in a day."

"It's been said that my metabolism is so fast that the food is metabolized before I've even swallowed." Jack said seriously, Izzy and Melissa laughed at this, Kari giggled a little, and even TK gave a chuckle or two.

When their meals arrived they ate. As Jack was busy with his six lobsters Melissa was left to answer Izzy's questions. She never mentioned the necklace.

"So Skelemon really digivolved to ultimate because you rolled dice?" Izzy asked for the fifth time. "I wonder if there's a crest of gambling." Izzy commented to himself. Jack and Melissa traded glances and shrugged.

"Maybe it was a crest of luck, after all he did say it was some good luck charm he was doing." Melissa suggested.

"Interesting," Izzy said while pulling out his laptop, "I'll have to look into that."

"Here is your bill." a giant egg with dinosaur legs said as it pushed the piece of paper onto the table.

TK shook his head, there was only one diner in the digital world; he should have known this would happen. "I knew this place was familiar." TK mumbled to himself. "Don't bother paying," he said, "whatever currency you have he doesn't take it."

The digimon glared at TK for a second. "I thought you looked familiar." the egg said. "You were one of those kids who saved us all from Malomyotismon. In that case the meal is free; consider it a thank you for saving me and the restaurant."

TK looked at the digimon in shock, "You really have changed a lot in the last decade Digitamamon." he said.

"I know." Digitamamon said. "There's also a room upstairs that you can stay in tonight."

"I get a bed." Kari declared. Whether or not they were staying wasn't a question.

It was dark when they finally went up to the room. The first thing they realized was that there were only four human sized beds; Jack opted to sleep on the floor.

Melissa woke up a little over an hour later; this wasn't her own bed after all. Seeing Jack sitting up and staring out the window unmoving she got up and walked over to him, "You okay?" she asked. When she got no reply she waved her hand in front of his glazed eyes. "Hellooo?" she said, "See anything worth seeing?"

Jack blinked and his eyes deglazed but his look was still far off. "I saw death," he said quietly, "death in the form of a dragon." Something about his tone chilled her to the bone. Melissa hated that tone as much as she hated his eyes at the carnival.

Jack turned his head to look at her. "Seems I did see something worth seeing." he commented with a smirk.

Melissa blushed furiously; she had stripped down to a bra and a thong for the night. "You don't seem very comfortable here." she said, "Why don't we share the bed?" she said. "And no sex gutter mind." she added immediately afterwards.

"No thanks." Jack said, "I'm fine here."

Melissa shivered a little, the reason she wanted Jack in the bed was because it was a cold night. She walked over to the bed, grabbed a pillow and the blanket, then walked back over tossed the pillow onto the floor, pushed Jack down, then laid down, and pulled the blanket over them. "Then share the floor." Melissa told him. Jack rolled his eyes, crazy bitch.

She was in a dark tunnel of some kind; all around herself she could hear the sound of waves. Kari walked down the tunnel toward a speck of light at the end. When she reached the end she saw a grey beach with black waves lapping up against it, there was very little beach visible. Out in the waters she saw Takeru, Tai, and her mother all tied to stakes their heads barely above the water.

"Do you see the price of disobeying me my pet?" a voice asked from behind her. Kari spun to see a man with red hair and a black cape, his face was shrouded in shadow. The man walked towards her and then, she woke up.

Kari sat up in bed clutching the sweat soaked sheets. She wiped her brow off and shivered a little, it was a cool night. A little apprehensive she got up, tiptoed over to TK's bed, slipped under the covers, and held him. Instantly she felt better.

TK stirred as she touched him. "Kari?" he asked looking at her through a cracked eye, "You okay?"

Kari nodded slightly, "Just let me hold you." she whispered as she laid her head on his bare chest. Looking down she realized his chest wasn't the only bare thing.

She giggled a little. "What's so funny?" TK asked as he gently stroked her hair.

"I thought this was a bed not a tent." Kari commented still giggling lightly.

TK rolled away from her, "Sorry." he muttered. God just being close to her was enough to excite him to levels he had never dreamed possible. All he wanted to do now was touch her, hold her, kiss her, and make love to her.

Kari mentally slapped herself. She hadn't meant to embarrass him. Slowly, her body moving of its own accord, she rolled TK back towards herself. She looked up into his eyes and gently kissed him on the lips. TK kissed her back hungrily, like he had been waiting his whole life for this. The kiss took on another dimension as they deepened it, their tongues battling for supremacy. TK slipped one of his thumbs into the waistband of Kari's panties and she broke the kiss.

"Not here." Kari whispered, "Not yet." TK removed his thumb with a nod and kissed her again. TK's erection was pressing into the side of her thigh and, despite what she had just said, was exciting her more by the second. Acting on impulse she wrapped her hand around his hardened member and rubbed it experimentally. TK moaned into her mouth and she continued her massage as they continued the kiss. The kiss became more and more frantic as Kari continued to play with TK's erection. The boy finally broke the kiss as he let loose, spraying his seed onto Kari's hand and legs.

"That was great." TK said as he lay panting next to her. Kari said nothing, she had already fallen back to sleep her hand still gripping TK's penis.

The next morning seemed to come too quickly for Izzy. As he opened his eyes he noticed half the beds were empty. After a little bit of searching he found Kari in TK's bed, no surprise there. A little more looking found Jack and Melissa on the floor, definitely not something he expected.

He slowly got up and pulled his clothes on. He was feeling kind of sluggish this morning, too long without a smoke. He thought fleetingly of his stash, still in the Kamiya's house, but then decided he should forget about it. His comrades had doubtless found and trashed it.

"Good morning Izzy." Tentomon said as Izzy left the room, the digimon were already awake. Izzy smiled, with shit like this in his life who, needed drugs?

Back in the room Jack lurched up his eyes snapping open wide. "Get up quick." he told Melissa giving her a violent shake. As soon as she opened her eyes he moved on to TK and Kari. "Everyone get up fast." Jack ordered.

"Why?" Kari asked as she nuzzled TK's chest. "It's still early."

Jack was looking out the window. "It's time," he said, "he's ready for us and he's coming. Welcome to the endgame."


	11. Endgame

Chapter 11: Endgame

They were ready. None of them had questioned how Jack had known, they had just trusted him. So here they all were, back by the lake, waiting for the fight to begin. Izzy tossed a rock into the lake and watched it sink. "Why are you so sure he's coming?" Izzy asked.

Jack was leaning against a tree, seemingly unconcerned about the fight he said was coming. "I wasn't kidding when I said I was a prophet." Jack said. Although he was trying to look like he was keeping his cool his eyes were darting around looking for something.

Izzy rolled his eyes, "Yeah a prophet, what next, huge sea monsters in the middle of the desert.

TK was on the other side of the lake skipping stones. "Okay Takeru," Kari said putting her hand on TK's shoulder, "tell me what's wrong."

TK looked up at her worry evident in his eyes. "I don't think we can do this." he admitted. "Only four Ultimates against Piedmon, we just aren't strong enough."

"Don't give up hope Takeru," Kari said sitting down beside him, "after all you are hope." She sighed, "It does look kind of bleak." she admitted. "We've been in worse spots though: we beat Malomyotismon, we beat Apoclymon, and you beat Devimon."

Kari bit her lip when she saw the pain in her eyes at the mention of that name. She looked down at the ground and tried to think of one that would cheer him up. "You saved me from the Dark Ocean." she said with a little grin.

TK looked over at her, "Speaking of which, how are your nightmares?"

"They're fine." Kari lied. She rested her head on TK's shoulder, "They're all gone when I'm near you." she admitted. "I think we should sleep together every night." she suggested.

"I'm good with that." TK said with a smirk, Kari blushed.

Melissa felt like a fifth wheel. She had no partner, no experience, and no secret knowledge. She was merely excess baggage, just someone else to protect in the upcoming battle. A fight everyone else seemed to be stressing over.

"Hello Digidestined." A voice said from above them. "It's so good to see you two again, through my own eyes."

They looked up to see the, to some, familiar two-toned face of their foe. Piedmon had come for them. "Too bad we're ready for you!" TK yelled up at him.

Piedmon laughed, "So the crybaby's the leader now." he remarked. "What happened to the idiot with the goggles?"

"Don't call Takeru a crybaby!" Kari yelled.

"Quit making fun of Tai!" TK shouted at the same time.

"So what if Davis is an idiot!" Izzy exclaimed simultaneously.

"You lot don't stand a chance." Piedmon stated. "You even came here with an unarmed girl." Melissa gave the clown digimon the finger. Kari smiled and nodded approvingly.

"Let's go." TK said grimly.

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon digivolve to Magnangemon."

"Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon."

"Tentomon digivolve to Kabuterimon digivolve to Megakabuterimon."

"Skullmon digivolve to Bonemon digivolve to Skelemon digivolve to Necromon."

Piedmon surveyed the four Ultimates in front of him, "Still not enough." he declared.

Both Magnangemon and Necromon slashed at Piedmon but the Mega blocked both attacks. He twisted to the side and avoided the arrow that Angewomon fired at him. "Horn Buster." this attack came from above and a reminder that combat was three dimensional.

Piedmon glared at the insect that had dared to hit him. "Trump sword." All four swords converged on Megakabuterimon and sent him to the ground as Tentomon. "You cannot defeat me." he bragged, "If you left that girl behind you might have stood a chance." Seeing Melissa's confused eyes he continued, "Didn't you ever wonder what happened to your poor little Demi? Well I'll give you a genealogy; the egg hatches and Pakamon comes out, it digivolves to Minidevimon, it digivolves to Demidevimon, it digivolves to Devimon, it digivolves to Myotismon, and finally into me."

"Fuck you!" Melissa yelled. "You're not my Demi! Demi was my friend, he would never do something like this." There were tears in the corners of her eyes. "You're not my Demi, you, you, you killed him, you, you, fuck you!"

"I don't think he's lying." Kari said sadly, "That whole genealogy sounds right."

"That's because it is." Izzy said softly.

"You're the smart one Izzy," TK said, "can't you come up with someway to beat him?"

Izzy slapped his head with the palm of his hand. "I'm sorry." he said, "I can't think of anything; my thoughts just won't clear up. I need a smoke."

"Do you even know what you're smoking?" Jack growled at him. "All it is is Tums in incense form. Anything you came up with on it you would have come up with off it."

Izzy looked up at Jack, "You mean that stuff did nothing?" Jack nodded. "So, I came up with all of that on my own." Izzy said with pride in his voice, a deep purple aura began to build around him.

Tentomon rose to his feet. "Tentomon warp digivolve to Herculeskabuterimon." Piedmon spun to face his newest adversary but he wasn't quick enough, "Mega Electroshocker!" The attack hit home and blasted the evil clown into the ground. "Izzy your confidence in your intelligence is giving me strength." the insectoid Mega stated.

Izzy suddenly got an idea. "Melissa," he called, "I think he's feeding off your fear. Just remember that if he's really your partner he can't physically hurt you."

The other digimon attacked as Piedmon got up. He dodged a slash from Magnangemon and threw two of his swords at Angewomon. Magnangemon knocked them both aside and Angewomon fired an arrow past her fellow angel and hit Piedmon in the shoulder. Piedmon grimaced in pain; it felt like his strength was being drained away.

"Reaper's Scythe." Piedmon brought up a sword to ward off the blow, but the scythe cut straight through it. Piedmon then noticed a cord of light connecting him to Melissa's digivice. He threw his final sword at her in an attempt to sever the connection forever.

Melissa just smiled serenely at the sword and it stopped a hair's breadth from her face and then fell to the ground, harmless. "Mega Electroshocker." the attack knocked Piedmon into the air and away from everyone but Magnangemon.

"Gate of Destiny." the gate opened, began to pull everything in front of it in, and it took all of Piedmon's diminishing strength to keep himself outside of it.

"Celestial Arrow."

"Dark Slash."

"Giga Scissorclaw."

The three attacks struck Piedmon in the back and propelled him forwards through the gate. Once the gate shut Melissa dropped to her knees and let the tears flow.

"Melissa it's okay." TK said stepping towards the girl, "It's all over now."

Without warning Melissa spun and punched TK in the gut. "You don't get it do you?" she shouted. "I just watched and helped in the death of my first real friend, my best friend, and damn it my best friend. You have no fucking idea how I feel!"

"Oh I've got a pretty good idea how it feels!" TK yelled back. "When I was eight years old Patamon died."

Melissa rolled her eyes, "Then why is he sitting there next to you?" she asked. The digimon had all since dedigivolved.

"Melissa," Kari began, "digimon never really die; their data just gets recycled and they come back as an egg at Primary Village."

Melissa looked at Kari through tear filled eyes, "You mean Demi's coming back?" she whispered. Kari nodded once. Melissa grabbed her in a crushing hug and whispered near silent 'thank god's and 'thank you's. She stepped back abruptly a second later and wrinkled her nose, "You really smell like sex." she commented.

Kari blushed and looked away. Under her breath she mumbled something like, "We didn't actually have sex."

While they were speaking a corona of light surrounded them and when it faded they were in a city. "So where are we now?" Jack asked.

"Home." Melissa sighed while looking around. "We're in Chicago."

Well Piedmon was Melissa's partner, who saw that coming? No, I really want to know.


	12. One Night In Chicago

Chapter 12: One Night in Chicago

"Why are we in Chicago?" Izzy wondered out loud. "Shouldn't we have returned to where Jack's car is?"

Melissa shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe we're here for a reason." She looked at her digivice, "Whatever the reason is it'll have to wait though, I have a backstage pass to the best concert ever and I'm not about to waste it." Melissa turned and began to jog off down the street.

Jack looked down at his own digivice and shook his head, "What a waste of energy. She seems to have forgotten that she's traveling with the lead singer's kid brother, and the head of security."

TK looked up, "You mean my brother's here?" he asked.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, July 22nd show in Chicago. Why don't we follow her, pop in backstage, and piss her off." he suggested with an evil smirk.

"Why do we have to follow her?" Izzy asked.

"Aside from a chance to see that nice ass of hers?" Jack said with a chuckle. "I have no idea where the concert is."

Melissa could barely contain herself. Here she was about to meet the greatest band of all time face to face. It was times like this she enjoyed being rich. From ahead she heard voices speaking in Japanese.

"You're telling me your brother's in this country?" a male voice asked.

"Tai calm down." another male voice said, "It's not like he knows where you guys live; he only knows that you guys are in the U.S."

Tai laughed a little, "You're right man," he said, "I mean what are the odds of him actually managing to find out where we live?"

"Yeah," another voice this one female said nervously, "What are the odds?"

"Sora why are you so …" Tai's voice trailed off. "You told him?" he asked in disbelief. "Sora how could you? This is the last thing I need to worry about."

Melissa was close enough now to see the people talking. Tai was a tall brunette who seemed to be attempting to grow a bush on his head. Sora was an athletic redhead a little taller then herself. And the final person was Yamato Ishida, best member of the best band of all time. She somehow got the idea that she knew more about what was going on than anyone else that may have been listening.

Behind her a door opened, "So he just walked up to you and asked if this was where the concert was?" a guy asked.

"No Brett." a girl replied, He came up to me and said, 'Yo Shorty, where's the bus? I need to get rid of this hobo beard I've been cultivating for the past week.' Guess that means the parents of the girl he was supposed to be watching didn't like the idea much."

The two walked past her, Brett was average height with thick black hair that looked like it had never seen a comb. Shorty was, well short, she seemed barely over five feet tall and had dark green hair that went down to the small of her back.

"Yo Wolf-boy we're done setting up?" she and Brett left talking about some old boyfriend of hers that apparently had the same nickname.

Tai was speaking to Matt again. "Listen Matt," he said, "it's been great seeing you, good luck with the concert, but I've got to go and stop our siblings from killing each other."

The door opened and closed again but Melissa ignored it. She was sure she knew something about what was happening here, but she just couldn't remember what.

"Tai," Matt said, he was looking over Tai's shoulder at the door and his eyes were wide, "I doubt there'll be any problems."

"Listen." Tai said. "Your brother might not do anything, but my sister's bound to kill him."

Sora, meanwhile, followed Matt's gaze and her eyes opened wide in shock. Melissa looked too and her jaw dropped. It was TK and Kari, each holding the other around the waist. Patamon was on TK's head and Gatomon was by Kari's feet. Izzy and Motimon were behind them.

"Tai, I think you should turn around." Sora suggested Tai ignored her.

"Hi Tai." Kari said loudly, "Hi Sora." TK said nothing.

Tai turned, looked at them, and nearly fainted. "Kari and TK?" he asked confusedly, "And they're both alive." He looked over at Izzy, "How come you look like Kari thought you were TK?"

Izzy's face was full of nicks and cuts. "I got in an argument with the razor." he said sheepishly.

"What are you doing here?" Melissa demanded. "Where's Jack?"

Izzy looked over at her, "He's helping the band out or something and we're here to visit some old friends."

"Heartfelt meeting of friends." Shorty commented sarcastically from a corner. "Sadly we need you on stage now Wolf-boy."

"Don't they go on before your band?" Kari asked.

"Usually," Matt said, "but I've been conscripted as the backup guitarist, because their guy got arrested in a bar fight last night and they're not bailing him 'til after the concert." He looked over at TK, "If you're alive when I get back," he said, "you're dead." TK gulped.

Matt left leaving only Tai to glare at TK. "Hands off her now Takaishi." he commanded venomously.

Kari clutched TK even closer, "No." she said. "I love Takeru and he loves me, we'll touch each other if we want." Tai looked at her shocked. "And if you give him anymore trouble we'll do more than just touch." she threatened with a mischievous smirk.

Tai looked at his sister oddly, where had his innocent little Kari gone? "I can't forget what he did to you," he said, "and I can't forgive him."

Sora put her arm on Tai's shoulder, "Let them be," she said, "Kari's smiling." Even though this was Kari's first true smile in a long time Tai still felt compelled to argue. Sora brought her lips close to Tai's ear, "Drop it and I'll give you the night of your life." she whispered seductively.

Tai suddenly spun around and caught Sora as she fell back. "You know night starts in the evening." he whispered suggestively as he gazed into her eyes.

Sora wrapped her arms around Tai's neck and kissed him. "Forget it lover boy, we came here for a concert." she told him.

Tai picked her up bridal style, "Well than my lady," he said while walking towards the stage, "off we go." Before he left Tai shot TK a final glare.

"Does that count as trouble?" TK asked as he stroked Kari's hair. "You know, we're all alone here." he noted, Izzy, Melissa, and the digimon had gone to watch and listen.

Kari blushed and looked away from TK. A second later she pushed him away and sat down on the couch sadly. TK deserved someone so much better than her. He deserved someone clean, someone new, someone unspoiled. He deserved someone who wouldn't hit him, and wouldn't yell at him, and wouldn't keep secrets from him. Her mind went back to that night in the alley two and a half years ago where a strange red haired man had slammed her against the wall and proceeded to have sex with her. All she could think about after he left her lying broken on the ground was, why her? She soon got her answer; the man was known as the 'Virgin Rapist' because he preyed solely on virgins. He had been around for four years and was to this day, still at large.

She had never told anyone about it. Only Gatomon, who had found her in the alley, knew. TK deserved so much better than her. He deserved someone who hadn't been used, someone who hadn't been violated, someone who hadn't been raped. Raped, the word struck a deep cord inside her. She had never used it before, as if it would keep the event from having actually happened.

TK was sitting next to her and she fell over into his arms crying her eyes out. TK held her tight unsure of why she was crying. This only reaffirmed her suspicions that TK deserved someone better than her. TK was so loyal, so concerned; he deserved to know. "Takeru Takaishi," she began using his full name to get his full attention, "there's something I need to tell you."

TK listened silently as Kari told the story his face somber. "Did they catch him?" he asked when she finished. Kari shook her head sadly. "Don't worry." TK told her, "I'll do my best to see him punished. No one messes with the girl I love and gets away with it."

Kari looked up at him her eyes filled with sadness and love. "You're more than I deserve Takeru." she said, "I'm so -"

TK silenced her with a light kiss on the lips. "No," he said, "I love you and you love me, we deserve each other." Kari smiled a little, and the light glinting off her crimson eyes made TK once again wonder: Brown or Black, which was better? "You're too beautiful for words." he whispered in her ear.

Kari began to move in to kiss him but stopped halfway. She sunk back down her hands on her head trying to get rid of the splitting migraine that suddenly hit her. TK held her close in an attempt to comfort her. Unseen by anyone they faded out of existence.

Across the ocean Ken looked up at the sky as he stopped on the street. He suddenly had an enormous headache. He breathed a sigh and leaned against a wall as he fumbled for an aspirin. Despite what he had told Yolei the headache was horrible and getting worse. No one saw Ken slowly fade away.

Melissa was up by the stage with Izzy. On the stage was one thing she had never expected to see. Jack was singing. He wasn't using his normal voice however he was supplying vocals in all sorts of odd voices and accents.

As the song ended jack left the stage and walked over to where Melissa and Izzy were. "God that always gives me a headache." he muttered stroking his temple.

"That was very, interesting." Melissa commented Jack shot her a smirk. A second later Jack fell to his knees clutching his head. Melissa caught him say something about aspirin and searched his pockets until she found a container of them. She poured a few into her hand which she held out for him.

Jack took the container and put it up to his mouth. He swallowed half of it in one gulp, leaned back for a moment panting, and then finished them off. "Thanks." he whispered.

Images were flashing before Jack's eyes. He saw himself as best man at Big T and Shorty's wedding. He saw a huge mechanical serpent with a red haired man beside it. He saw Melissa completely naked, face flushed, moaning, and panting beneath him. He saw the red haired man talking to Kari, taunting her. He saw two six year olds, one a boy with a blonde mullet the other a girl with long black hair, jumping on a bed head banging to a song on the radio. He saw Kari standing over TK a dagger in her hand and murder in her eyes, TK's eyes were shut and he seemed to be waiting for something. He saw himself looking down the sights of a pistol at a middle-aged man with red hair. He saw himself kissing Melissa, sand whipping around them.

Melissa swallowed the pills in her hand; all this pill-popping was giving her a headache. Jack rolled forward unconscious and a second later she joined him on the floor. Izzy and the digimon rushed over to see if they were okay. Then all seven of them vanished.


	13. The Dark Ocean

Chapter 13: The Dark Ocean

When Melissa came to she had no idea where she was. She was lying on a grey beach and there was black water lapping up against the sand a few yards away. It looked like it was twilight, but she sensed it was always this way here.

"I see you're finally awake." a voice said from beside her. "You had us all worried." Melissa rolled over to see Jack looking at her. "Feeling any better?"

Melissa shrugged, "After your little fit I don't have a leg to stand on about being okay." She sat up and shook the sand out of her hair, "How come whenever I'm with you I wind up all sandy?" she asked, "And where are we anyway?"

"Izzy calls this place the Dark Ocean." Jack said. "He says it's a place where darkness is supreme and that it has connections that are beyond the physical." He sighed and leaned back propping himself up on his elbows. "The tides coming in." he noted.

"It means something bad is about to happen." Melissa said, "Don't ask how I know, I just do." Jack didn't say anything. Melissa looked down at her lap.

"You wanted to know who I was?" she said suddenly. Jack nodded so she continued, "My last name is Drake, my parents are Otto and Vanessa Drake." She could tell that Jack recognized the names, it was hard not to. The Drakes had their fingers into everything: automobiles, oil, computers, antibiotics, and others; somewhere along the line everyone was involved with them. "They're complete bastards," she said bitterly, "I doubt they even notice that I'm gone."

"How long has it been since you've been home?" Jack asked quietly.

"Three weeks." Melissa said. "I used to call the butler every other day or so to let him know I was okay, but my cell broke a few days before I met TK." She picked up a handful of sand and threw it down the beach, "I never want to be like them," she said, "and I'm never going to be. You hear that!" she yelled out suddenly, "I'm never going to be like my parents!"

For the first time in his life TK knew what it was like to be in the digital world without someone watching his back. All he had with him was Kari and she was beginning to tire and grow weak. The Dark Ocean was beginning to fray her mind. Already her eyes would dart around like an animal caught in a trap; he hoped she wouldn't try to chew her leg off in order to escape it.

TK looked down at his D3 again, there were still three blips on the very edge of the screen, but now there was a fourth that was nearing them. Across the sand he thought he could see a familiar figure.

"Hey Kari look," he said to the half unconscious girl, "it looks like Ken's her too." Kari mumbled something unintelligible and he put her arm over his shoulder and began to half carry her towards Ken.

Acting on impulse he leaned over and kissed Kari on the lips. It was like a miracle cure, as soon as he had done it color seemed to return to her face and she didn't seem so heavy. "Thanks Takeru." she said with a slight smile.

Ken it seemed had also seen them and begun to veer their way. By Ken's foot they could barely make out the shape of Wormmon. At least now they weren't totally defenseless. After a few minutes of more walking they had met up with each other. "Hello TK," Ken said calmly, "would that by any chance be Kari?"

TK nodded a little, "Hey Ken, yeah this is Kari." Kari looked up a bit and waved weakly before sinking back onto TK's shoulder. "We need to get her out of here." TK said, "This place'll kill her if she stays here much longer."

Ken nodded gravely, "I know." he said, "It's worse here this time. I can feel the darkness at the edge of my mind. It's nibbling away at my sanity."

TK looked at Ken and then at Kari. He really didn't need to know that, all it would do was make him worry more. He smiled sadly as he looked down at Kari; she was so beautiful and so accursed. It wasn't fair that everything evil took an interest in her. He had always wondered how she could take it all and stay so positive; it had taken until a few days ago for him to realize that the reason was him. He, Takeru Takaishi, had been her anchor her rock in life, and he had thrown it all away in a stupid argument over something he couldn't even remember. After that they had both descended into depression; Kari into her antisocial semi-gothic seclusion, and him into the depths of self pity. He found himself unconsciously stroking the lines on his wrists, relics of the worst part of his depression.

"Why did you do it?" a soft voice asked from his shoulder. It was Kari, and as he looked at her she embellished the question, "Why did you slit your wrists Takeru?"

TK looked at her in surprise, "How did you know about that?" he asked.

"I saw the scars." Kari admitted, "Back when we caught Izzy doing the drugs and I found you half dead on the floor." Kari blushed a little for some reason, "I was so worried I was going to lose you but I didn't want to admit it."

"You won't ever lose me." TK told her. "I'm not ever going to let you down like I did before. As for the scars, they're all that's left over from a year of self pity, depression, and despair."

"And when you almost died you realized that you had to try and make life better?" Kari asked.

TK shook his head, "No I was even worse afterwards. Then I got a tongue lashing I'll never forget from a homeless guy, and that brought me out of it."

Izzy, Melissa, and Jack were walking. Melissa was unconsciously reliving her trek through the desert with Jack. In the past week she had walked through more sand than she had in the whole rest of her life. Her thoughts went over to Jack; he was a weird one all right. Jack now knew who her parents were, but he didn't seem to care much; at least he wasn't treating her any differently. Jack was the one in the group she felt closest to too, maybe because they were both American digidestined or maybe because neither one really fit in. She also couldn't stand him at all. Melissa chuckled a little to herself, what a strange combination.

"They should be right over this hill." Izzy said looking up from his digivice. No one had the heart to remind him that this was the fifth 'this hill.'

TK was leaning against a hill of sand. Across from him Ken was asleep with Wormmon curled up beside him. Just how much he missed Patamon suddenly hit him. He and the batpig had been through so much it was odd not having him around. He looked down at the girl curled up in his lap; he would gladly trade Patamon for her any day. Unsure of whether or not she was asleep he gently stroked her long hair; he was still unsure whether he preferred it black or brown.

Kari stirred and opened her eyes to look at TK, "Takeru, I've been doing some serious thinking," she said with a mischievous smile, "and the next time we're somewhere with a bed I'll be ready."

TK smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. Kari giggled and nestled her head into TK's lap. TK had always kissed her goodnight that way in the old days. "Love you Kari." he murmured before falling asleep.

"Hey TK wake up." It felt like TK had only just closed his eyes when he heard the familiar voice.

TK opened his eyes to see an orange and white batpig hovering in front of him. "Patamon!" he exclaimed grabbing his partner and hugging him.

There were a couple of chuckles behind him, "He acts as if they haven't seen each other in weeks." Gatomon commented.

"I know," Kari said with mock sadness, "he wasn't even this happy to see me."

Kari was completely unprepared for TK to turn on her and hug her so quickly that they both fell to the ground with TK on top. "Oh Takeru you naughty boy." she said before rolling them over so that she was on top straddling his waist. "Of course I know exactly what you want." she stated before her hips into his. All TK could do was comment on the lack of a bed.

"On your own time if you please guys." a voice said from behind them. TK and Kari both turned to see Izzy, Ken, Melissa, and Jack. They both blushed scarlet as Kari got off of TK.

"There's no reason to blush." Melissa teased. "We already know you're doing stuff like that."

TK and Kari were too embarrassed to do anything but mumble under their breaths. All were sure they heard a number of four letter words interspersed in there.

"So now that we're all awake and together what do we do?" Ken asked thoughtfully as he glanced up at the sky.

"So it's going to rain." Melissa stated sarcastically, "You don't need to be a genius to realize that."

Ken ignored the jab and it was Jack who spoke next, his voice deceptively calm. "It's not just going to rain it's going to pour, and it's high tide. We need to find some shelter.

"There's a cave over there." Kari said pointing towards the cliffs, her voice was shaking. "I'm not going in though, not unless I have no choice."

"Pick up your girlfriend Takaishi." Jack commanded. "She has no choice in this."

"I said, I'm not going in there." Kari grumbled. "And Takeru if you try and make me you'll be forever sorry."

TK shook his head, "I know what happened in there, and I won't force you to go."

"But I will." Jack growled. "You have two choices: stay here and probably die or go into the cave and face bad memories. As you've put up with Takaishi this long I think you can take a few bad memories."

"I'm not too keen on going in there either." Ken said. "That cave has an evil aura."

"So what if it does?" Melissa snapped. "Sure the place makes me feel sick, but it beats dying."

"One reason." Kari said softly, the others turned to look at her. "Just give me one reason why I should go in there instead of staying here."

"TK." Izzy said, "You and TK are finally back together. Dying now would be prodigiously counterproductive."

Kari thought about it a bit. Izzy was right and it was a good reason. She decided that she would rather face the cave than lose her love again. She glanced over at TK to see what he was thinking.

"I'll follow you to the ends of the earth." TK whispered his eyes and voice filled with sympathy.

Kari smacked him, not hard enough to hurt but hard enough to get the point across, "Don't feel sorry for me." she commanded. Kari stood up and brushed her pants off, "I'll go."

Ken nodded, "If they'll go I'll go."

The cave was dark, and dank, and musty, but it wasn't wet. This was quite a good thing because no sooner had they entered the cave than the sky opened up. The rain was a grey depressing sort of rain, much like everything else in this world. At Ken's urging they had moved deeper into the cave past the half buried remains of a couple of black collars the Japanese digidestined seemed to want to ignore.

Jack was sitting against the wall of the cave. TK and Kari were across from him asleep in each others arms. Ken was leaning against the wall watching the entrance, a self-appointed guard. Izzy was asleep using his keyboard as a pillow until Motimon pulled it away and shut the laptop down. Melissa sat down next to Jack and rested her head on his shoulder. "What do you want?" Jack grunted.

Melissa didn't meet his eyes it was as if she was embarrassed by what she had to say. "It's kind of weird and I don't really understand it." Melissa began, "This cave makes me feel all cold, and sick, and scared; but when I'm near you I feel safe." She looked up at Jack to see if he would tell her to leave only to see sunglasses. He even wore them in the middle of a dark cave.

"This place does feel pretty weird." Jack admitted. He shifted over to make her more comfortable, "You can stay if it makes you feel better."

Melissa snuggled into Jack's shirt getting comfortable. "I still hate you." she told him.

"Ditto."

Melissa rolled her eyes, "Shut it Swayze."

"Sorry Lis, I'm Collins not Swayze." Jack told her with a smirk.

"Fuck you." Melissa growled.

"Already told you Lis, not in the sand." Jack whispered in her ear.

"Since when do you call me Lis?" Melissa inquired.

"Since five minutes ago." Jack told her. "Now get some sleep."

"Goodnight argumentative bastard." Melissa said.

"Goodnight contrary wench." Jack told her.


	14. Two Paths To Go By

Chapter 14: Two Paths To Go By

Kari awoke with a start, she had just been dreaming about something but she couldn't remember what it was. Looking around she saw a light at the end of the cave. With an odd sense of déjà vu she got up and began walking towards it, like a moth drawn to a flame.

She stopped right before she would be able to see anything, and stood there afraid to go on. "Do you see…" a voice said from behind her. Kari whirled around fist clenched and ready to punch the faceless man, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be. "A little jumpy are we?" Jack asked from a foot beyond her fist.

"You're not supposed to be here." Kari told him, "The evil man with no face is supposed to be here." As soon as she said it Kari realized just how stupid she sounded.

Jack however didn't seem to agree with her assessment. "Did he have red hair and a black cape?" he asked.

Kari nodded, "Yeah, but how do you know?"

Jack sighed, "Those times when I said I was a prophet I meant it." Kari nodded again. "So can you see anything out there?" Jack asked.

"I'd rather not." Kari said, "In my dream my mother, brother, and Takeru were all set out there to drown."

"That's interesting," Jack said with a nod, "but the way we came in and the ocean are back there." he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

"So what is this?" Kari asked Jack shrugged. "Listen I'm going to check it out." Kari told him. She approached the light at the end of the cave and soon realized it was a wall of white, "Hold on to me and pull me back if anything happens." Kari reached out to touch it and her hand went through. It was warm on the other side so she stuck her head through too.

A second later Jack yanked her back out of the white wall. Kari's eyes were wide and she was gasping for air. "Well, what was it?" ha asked.

"The, the Digital World." Kari whispered breathlessly. "It's a portal to the Digital World."

"The Digital World, so we can get out of this creepy place?" Jack asked. Kari nodded. "Then let's get back to everyone else, wake them up, and leave." Jack suggested before grabbing Kari and dragging her down the cave towards the others.

It took a good fifteen minutes to get everyone up and explain what they had found. "Are you sure this is safe?" Izzy asked while looking at the white portal.

TK and Ken exchanged glances behind Izzy's back and then pushed him through the portal. "Very mature." Kari commented before walking through with Gatomon and Motimon. TK and Ken looked at each other, shrugged, and walked through the portal; their partners followed them.

"See you on the other side contrary wench." Jack told Melissa giving her a cocky salute.

"I hope you land in a pile of digimon shit argumentative bastard." Melissa told Jack as he leapt through the portal with Skullmon under one arm. A second later she leapt through as well.

When she came out on the other side Melissa turned around but saw no white portal. Like everyone before her she jumped through the space only to land, still in the Digital World.

"I think it's a one way portal." Izzy said as he looked up.

"You don't say." Melissa muttered as she pushed herself to her feet. "So we're out of the creepy ocean world, what do we do now?" she asked.

"We look for a TV so we can gate back home." Ken said.

"A TV?" Jack asked with an eyebrow raised, Ken nodded. Jack shook his head and looked at Izzy, "You come here all the time and yet you start doing drugs. This place is like a permanent high."

"Maybe I started doing drugs to rationalize what I was seeing here and in my life." Izzy suggested, "I honestly can't remember."

"Wait," Melissa butted in, "we can't just leave. I need to get my Demi egg from that Primary Village place."

"I'll bring you." Izzy told her. "People probably aren't worrying too much over where I am. So TK and Kari go on home and tell everyone that you didn't elope."

"Fine." TK said, "Good luck with Demi Melissa. I think there's a TV this way." he said walking off with Kari and Ken.

Izzy and Melissa also left, Jack followed them. "Why are you coming along?" Melissa asked.

"I feel like seeing this Primary Village place." Jack said simply. "I also Takaishi and Kari's brother can look after her."

"So you're ditching your job?" Izzy asked.

Jack shook his head, "No I'm on vacation."

"You have vacation days?" Melissa asked.

Jack shrugged, "If I don't I was suddenly taken ill and couldn't work. And if I have no sick days then yes, I am ditching my job."

"That's fine by me." Melissa said, "Welcome aboard."

Izzy mentally groaned, so much for a peaceful walk.

"This is it." TK said proudly, "Told you there was a TV around here."

Ken clapped sarcastically and held up his digivice, nothing happened. "Guarantee you to find one that doesn't work." he said.

"Let me try." TK said pushing Ken out of the way, nothing happened for him either.

Kari chuckled, "Boys, this is a job for a woman." She held up her own digivice, but again nothing happened. "Okay maybe it is broken." she said, "Who knows where another one is?"

Davis glanced at the clock impatiently; Takaishi was late and he didn't like waiting. "Forget it." he said finally. "I have called you all here for a very important meeting." he said to his audience: Yolei, Cody, and the three digimon.

"Hurry it up Bonehead." Yolei snarled; she wanted to get back on the search for the missing Ken.

"Yeah Davis," Cody said, "skip the preamble and let us get back to finding Ken."

Davis stopped his talk about setting aside old differences and glared at the younger boy. He abruptly cleared his throat, "As I was about to say, I believe I have found where Ken is." He paused long enough to dodge the questions then continued, "This however only brings up a larger problem. Ken is gone because," he paused to increase the tension, "the Digiworld is broken."

"Broken?" Cody asked. "Davis you've finally lost it."

"Lost it? When did he ever have it in the first place." Yolei commented.

"Look do you want to try." Davis said motioning to the computer.

Yolei stood up, "Fine." She took out her D3 and pointed it at the screen, "Digiport open!" the portal stayed closed, "Digiport open!" still nothing.

Cody stood up, "My turn," he said holding up his D3, "digiport open!" Again nothing happened. "Okay, we might have a problem." Cody conceded.

"I told you guys." Davis said throwing it in their faces. He shook his head in annoyance, "Where the hell is Takaishi?" he asked, "Cody, you and he live in the same building, do you have any idea where he is?"

Yolei and Cody quickly shook their heads no, far too quickly. "Okay that's it,"

Davis said, "I'm not that stupid. Where is he?" He glared at their nervous faces for a second, "You didn't? How could you let him do that?" A second later he leapt up and dashed out the door Demiveemon in tow.

"Davis, where are you going?" Yolei called after him.

"To get a plane ticket!" the goggle head replied.


	15. Three Evils One Man

Chapter 15: Three Evils, One Man

"So, we're stuck here." Ken said finally admitting defeat. He angrily kicked the TV shattering the screen, "Piece of crap!"

"So now that we're not going home, what should we do?" TK asked.

Kari was sitting against a tree. "I don't know," she admitted, "but I guess we meet up with the others at Primary Village."

"You should but you won't." a voice said from behind them. They turned to see who it was and Kari gasped; it was a red haired man in a black cape.

"Who are you?" Ken demanded.

The man's eyes flicked over Ken, gauging him. "The great Ken Ichijouji," he said sarcastically, "I must admit I did not expect to meet my fallen predecessor. In fact I installed the barrier just so I wouldn't have to deal with the likes of you."

"You can't be serious." Ken said. "You can't take over the Digital World. The world itself cannot be tamed."

"Maybe you should have tried that before I finished the job!" the man snarled. "This world bows before me, I already rule it all."

TK glanced over at Kari, something was wrong with her; she was quivering with repressed rage and fear. "Not for long!" she suddenly yelled, "We'll take you down Richard!"

TK looked back at the man, sure as sure, it was Richard. "You will do nothing of the sort." Richard said confidently. "You however, my pet, are coming with me."

"Like hell." TK said stepping protectively in front of Kari. "If you leave here now and never come back I promise we'll let you live."

"So Blondie's back." Richard commented. "I still owe you for that punch a week ago, so let's make a deal: if the three of you can beat me up I'll leave like you want."

Ken and TK traded glances and stepped forward. The former judo champion and the kid that beat the champion up, the fight should have been short and one sided. And it was, just against the odds.

TK reached Richard first and threw a punch at his face. Richard grabbed TK's wrist then simultaneously punched TK in the head and kicked him in the groin. TK was as good as out. Ken grabbed Richard's arm and made to throw him but Richard moved with it. Richard's leg lashed out and knocked ken's legs out from under him; the former Kaiser yanked Richard down with him and hit the new despot right on the nerve deadening half of his body. It didn't matter though; Ken's head was caught between the ground and Richard's elbow and all went dark.

Richard stood, having regained feeling in his leg. "I suppose you'll be coming along now my pet?" The Digimon leapt at him only to be swatted back by an enormous tail. No one would ever understand how they missed the giant semi-mechanical sea serpent, but they had.

Kari stared in shock at the digimon. It looked like a cross between a cyborg and

Metalseadramon. And right now the cannon in its snout was charging to fire. "Forget it Mechaseadramon," Richard said, "they're no threat. Now come along Kari."

TK had regained his feet and turned to face Richard. Richard's foot lashed out and connected but TK refused to go down. TK tackled Richard and slammed his fist into the Kaiser's face; he drew back his arm for second blow, and then collapsed to the side in pain.

Richard was using the same nerve Ken had, but he didn't let up on the pressure. "That's better." he commented as he stood up. Then he kicked TK in the head, Kari screamed out TK's name, and Richard looked from her to TK and back to her. "So this is the Takeru you called out to." he commented, "This time I'll make sure you use my name. Don't even bother getting up." Richard said to TK without looking at him.

"Kari come along." Kari took a step back. "Keep that up and I won't call off Mechaseadramon." Richard threatened.

Kari bit her lip, closed her eyes, and stepped forward. Richard took her hand and led her towards Mechaseadramon. As she passed by TK Kari glanced down at him apologetically, "I'm sorry Takeru," she whispered, "just remember that I love you."

"No!" TK yelled extending his arm, "Kari!" He was too late; they had already climbed onto Mechaseadramon and left knocking trees to the ground as they went. TK slammed his fist into the round. He had sworn to protect her and he had failed, again.

As he replayed the scene in his head he stumbled upon something that Richard had said. Something about making her scream his name this time. What had he meant by this time? Then it hit him Richard had red hair and said he knew Kari sexually; Richard was the rapist. This was now shaping up to be the worst position he had ever been in.

"What the hell just happened?" Ken asked as he pushed himself shakily to his feet.

"We got our asses kicked that's what." TK said bitterly. "We got our asses kicked, our partners got their asses kicked, and he took Kari."

"So what are we going to do now?" Ken asked. "We're stuck here and it sounds like we can't do this on our own."

"We'll go to Primary Village and get Izzy, Melissa, and Jack. Then we can look to see if anyone else is in the Digital World." TK told him.

"This has to be the oddest place I've been to yet." Jack said. He, Melissa, Izzy, Bonemon, and Tentomon were on their hands and knees looking for an off-white egg with bluish-black and yellow spots.

"Why do you say that?" Bonemon asked.

"It's like I'm looking for sentient life in a babies crib and I've been shrunken to do it." Jack told the skeleton.

"And even worse it seems the search is a success." Bonemon added eliciting a smile and a chuckle from his partner.

"Hey Elecmon, could you give us a hand?" Izzy called out to the red rat/dog protector of the village that was stoically watching their search.

"That I cannot," Elecmon said, "if you are truly ready for the egg then you will find it."

"Found it!" Melissa shouted holding up the egg. "I found the egg!"

Izzy looked back at her in shock, he had just finished searching the area Melissa was in a second ago. "How did you do that?" he asked in disbelief.

"Easter egg hunting champion eight years in a row." Melissa said proudly.

"Congratulations, you found the egg." Elecmon said Melissa smiled. "However there is a danger." Melissa's face fell. "It is quite likely that your partner will remember the dark events of his past."

"So what can I do?" Melissa asked. "Is this a choice between losing Demi forever and endangering the world?"

Elecmon shook his head, "No, it's not like that. Now while he is in the egg he will be more responsive to your emotions, keep your heart pure and you may well defeat the darkness in his heart."

Melissa nodded, "I'll do it. I'll get the real Demi back." She promptly turned around and walked off into the woods. "I'm taking the egg for a walk in the forest so it will feel all the good in the forest and become nice." she declared.

Izzy and Jack exchanged glances the same word running through their heads: 'nut.' "I'll go watch her." Jack sighed as he and Bonemon walked off into the woods following Melissa.

"Got a secret crush on a girl that hates you?" Izzy laughed.

Jack gave Izzy the finger over the shoulder. "More like an odd sense of comradeship, probably because we're the only real Americans in the group."

Izzy rolled his eyes, "Comradeship my posterior." he said to himself.

"I heard that!" Jack yelled angrily back at Izzy. "And I'd prefer if you kept your ass out of anything involving me."


	16. Feelings and Plans

Chapter 16: Feelings and Plans

Kari looked out the window of her appointed room. She was inside an enormous castle, but from her window all she could see was from her sand; wonderful castle, horrible placement, and an utterly despicable owner.

"You don't like it here do you?" Richard asked from the entrance way, there was no door.

"I don't like it anywhere I'm required to be near you." Kari growled at him.

"You're going to be mine Kari." Richard told her. "If you won't be civil I'll leave, but I'll be back. I'll always be back." he stated before leaving.

Kari sighed and looked back out at the sunset. It didn't matter that Richard would return; only that he was gone now.

"You can stop following me." Melissa said, "I know you're there."

"I wasn't trying to hide." Jack told her from fifteen feet back where he was standing against a tree hands in his coat pockets.

"Why are you following me?" Melissa asked.

"I'm not following you." Jack shot back. "I'm making sure you're safe."

"Why? Why, do you care whether I'm safe or not?"

Jack looked off at the sky. "You ever feel like you know someone, but you've never met them before?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah," Melissa admitted, "I do."

"I feel like that around you. I feel like we've been through a lot already." Jack said; Melissa stayed silent. "So tell me now, have we ever met before?"

Melissa shook her head, "No, I'm sorry but I hadn't met you before all of this started. I do feel the same way though. Like I've known you for years, it's half the reason I trust you."

"You trust me?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Okay maybe not trust," Melissa admitted, "more like I can count on you."

Jack looked up at the sky. "Getting late out," he noted, "we should get back."

"Fine," Melissa said before turning back towards Primary Village, "I'll see you back at the village."

The sun had gone down and now the only light in Kari's room came from a small brazier glowing in the corner. The brazier threw a small ring of light around the area she where was sitting. Richard was pacing just outside the ring. He was nearly invisible except for the small silver clasp of his cape which reflected the light.

Kari's eyes were drawn to the clasp and she watched as it moved back and forth through the darkness. Kari didn't notice as she gradually began to blink and breathe less. Suddenly Richard spoke, "What is your name?"

"Kamiya Hikari." Kari replied. Her voice was flat and emotionless, devoid of all life.

"Where are you from?"

"Odaiba, Japan."

"Why are you here?" Richard asked tightening the spell.

"I was betrayed." Kari replied.

Richard smiled, "Who betrayed you?"

"Takaishi Takeru."

"How did he betray you?" Richard asked.

"He said he would protect me; but he did not, he said he loved me; but he did not, and he swore that we would always remain friends; but we did not." Kari answered.

"What must you do?" Richard asked.

"I must punish him." Kari said.

Richard stepped into the light and held out a knife, "You know what to do with this?"

Kari nodded. "I do." she answered as she took the knife.

"What is his punishment?"

"Death."

Richard led her over to the balcony, outside a Devidramon was perched on the structure. "My servant will give you a ride to where your target is. Once you are done with him return to me." Richard told her before leaning over and kissing her gently on the lips, Kari didn't resist. Kari turned without a word, mounted the Devidramon, and left.

"Are you sure this is a good plan?" a voice asked from the darkness of Kari's room.

"You underestimate my abilities Betamon." Richard said. "She will do what she is told, and eliminate our problems."

"I will tell you again Richard," Betamon said, "that girl, the child of light, is bad news. You should get rid of her immediately, and never, under any circumstances, underestimate i her /i .

Richard let out a long laugh, "Betamon you worry too much. I know what I am doing; besides the two of us are invincible."

Betamon grinned evilly, "Yes," he whispered, "that we are."

When Jack and Melissa returned to the village they were surprised to find that Izzy and Tentomon weren't the only ones waiting for them. Ken was busy talking to Izzy and Wormmon, Gatomon, and Patamon were nearby speaking to Elecmon. TK was sitting against a rock far removed from the others staring at the moon.

"Why are you guys here?" Melissa asked Ken.

"There's a problem with the digiports, we're locked in." Ken replied.

"Where's Kari?" Jack demanded.

"She's been kidnapped." Ken said hesitantly, Jack exhaled loudly as if to call Ken useless. "By some guy named Richard who thinks he can rule the Digital World."

Jack growled a little when he heard Ken mention Richard. "I thought being a digidestined required some standards." he mumbled to himself.

"Why's TK sitting over there by himself?" Melissa asked.

"He's in a black mood." Patamon explained. "It's best to just leave him alone right now."

"Why is he like that though?" Melissa asked.

"Ten years ago he made a promise to protect Kari until the end." Izzy told her. "That promise is a real driving force in his life, he lives to protect her. Now he feels like he failed." he explained sadly.

"Poor guy," Melissa commented, "he just got her back and now he's lost her again. No wonder he feels like the world is falling down around him."

Ken nodded, "It really is sad. He's been like this for the past three years, ever since that fight with Kari."

"What was that about anyway?" Izzy asked. "No one ever told me."

Ken shrugged, "I have no idea. Nobody knows but them and maybe their brothers." he told Izzy. "We should get some sleep," he suggested, "we can talk more tomorrow."

"Yeah sure, goodnight." Jack said. He was obviously still angry that Kari had been taken. He lied down next to one of the large building blocks in the area and soon dropped off to sleep.

Jack awoke an hour or two later with the vague notion that there is something wrong. A quick look around showed nothing out of the ordinary, but then he heard an odd chattering. He followed the sound to its source: Melissa; curled up in a ball, clutching the egg, and shivering.

Jack took off his trench coat and put it over her. "You're giving me your coat? Won't you be cold?" Melissa asked showing that she was awake.

Jack looked away, "I'll be fine. Besides the coat's for the egg not you.

Melissa smiled as she snuggled into the coat, "Yeah right." she said to herself. To Jack she said, "Thanks Jack."

Jack leaned back against his block; at his latitude this was warm. "No problem Lis," he said, "no problem at all."

"If you get cold I can share the coat." Melissa offered but Jack waved her away. Melissa sighed as she rolled over; her relationship with Jack sure was a weird one.

Morning always seems to come too quickly for people. It disturbs the peaceful dreams and rest of people where everything was perfect and replaced it with the grim reality that is life. So it was for the digidestined when they awoke sad, angry, worried, and trapped in a world not their own.

This however changed when they saw a figure break free from the tree line and run towards them. TK's mouth dropped open as he recognized who it was. "Kari!" he yelled running towards her with Gatomon by his side, "Thank god you're ok!"

When they met TK grabbed Kari in a crushing embrace and held her tight. The others soon arrived on the scene. Kari forcefully shoved TK away. TK looked at her in confusion this wasn't the Kari he knew, there was something different in her eyes.

"TK," she said her odd eyes gazing at him intently, "we need to talk."


	17. A Knife, A Kiss, And A Night

Chapter 17: A Knife, a Kiss, and a Night

"TK," Kari said her odd eyes gazing at him intently, "we need to talk."

"Fine ." TK said following her a short distance from the others. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Us." Kari replied her voice flat. "I want you to answer my questions TK, and I want you to answer them honestly." TK nodded, he tried to remain calm but something was telling him to beware. "Why did you do it TK?" Kari asked.

"Do what?" TK asked confused.

"You know what you did." Kari snarled. "The lying, the betrayal, the desertion; all I want is the reason."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." TK told her. Something in the back of his mind told him to step back and he did. He was just in time, as he stepped back Kari slashed at him with a knife just narrowly missing his neck. TK could hear the others coming towards Kari and himself, but he warned them away. He didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him. "Kari what are you doing?" he asked.

"Punishing you." Kari said, "You need to die." They were circling each other as TK sought keep some distance between himself and his murderous girlfriend. Then disaster struck, TK tripped over a root.

TK rolled to the side and barely avoided a stab from Kari. He rolled onto his knees in an attempt to get up, and realized that she had him. He closed his eyes and waited for the end.

The blow never fell. TK opened his eyes to see Kari standing over him, the knife poised to deliver the final blow. However her hand was shaking, as if she was consciously holding it back, and her eyes were back to normal, though they were filled with grief and panic. "Takeru," she whispered, "get out of here. I don't know how much longer I can fight it."

TK looked at her and raised his chin defiantly, exposing his neck. "Go ahead," he told her, "kill me."

Tears began to form in Kari's eyes as her hand began to slowly, shakily, grind forward. "Please Takeru," Kari pleaded, "I don't want to kill you."

"Then don't." TK told her. "Now if you're going to kill me get on with it." he said his voice dripping with boredom.

Kari's arm began to tremble violently and she shut her eyes and started shaking her head from side to side. Suddenly the knife fell from her fingers and she dropped to the ground beside TK clutching her head.

The others immediately ran over to see if they were okay. No one noticed as Jack scooped up the knife and slipped it into his coat.

"What the hell were you thinking when you did that?" Kari suddenly yelled at TK.

"Well I …"

"I know what you were planning!" Kari yelled cutting him off. "I wanted to know how you could be so stupid!" she punctuated that statement with a slap that snapped TK's head to the side. Then she got up and stomped off.

TK made to follow her, but Melissa stopped him. "Let her go," Melissa said shaking her head, "she needs to be alone. It's a girl thing." she added to prevent any argument.

Kari still hadn't rejoined the group fifteen hours later. She was sitting by the fire silently staring out into the darkness.

"Kari, what's wrong?" TK asked sitting down beside her.

"You shouldn't be this close to me Takeru." Kari stated sadly.

"Why is that?" TK asked.

"Because it's still in there." Kari told him. "Whatever Richard did to make me hate you is still in here. It's struggling to get out, and I don't know if I can hold it."

"You can do it Kari." TK said. "Just believe in yourself, you can beat it."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Kari asked. "One little disagreement and I might lose control."

TK waved it away. "I love you, you love me, and we've been like that for a decade. The bond between us will keep me safe."

Kari didn't look like she believed him. "That almost wasn't enough last time." She said sadly.

TK turned to face Kari and kissed her on the lips. "Stop worrying." he told her, "It won't get you anywhere."

Kari sat there silently gazing into TK's eyes. Slowly, cautiously, she moved in towards him, stopping only when their lips met.

Something about that kiss changed everything. TK pushed Kari onto the ground, straddling her, as she attempted to remove his shirt. As she pulled it up TK slid his own hands under Kari's shirt and began to do the same. They stopped kissing for a moment as they each others shirts and then began again. Kari's hands slipped down to TK's waist and began to fiddle with his pants as he tried to unhook her bra.

"Damn this." TK growled as her fiddled with the offending garment, "Matt always made it sound so much easier."

Kari giggled a little but a look from TK shut her up. This wasn't something he had done before and he was obviously taking it very seriously. Then again this wasn't really something she had done before either. "Trade." she told him leaning back to unhook her bra leaving TK to remove his pants.

When Kari looked again TK had indeed removed his pants. However he had left his boxers on which still attempted to hide his manhood. A rather bad attempt admittedly as a generous potion was still poking out of the leg. As they came together again Kari worked his boxers down and reached for his member.

TK brushed her hand away, "Not this time." he said huskily. With a single movement he grasped her shorts and panties and yanked them off. He let his eyes roam over her body taking in every detail of her form. Kari blushed under his gaze.

"You are the most beautiful person in the world." he told her before lowering his head to the area between her legs. Slowly, as if he was unsure about what he was doing, TK inserted his tongue into Kari's vagina and licked. Kari moaned as his tongue passed over her clit and inwardly TK smiled; listening to the step by step accounts of Matt's sex life obviously hadn't been wasted time. TK continued tasting Kari until he felt her climax and proceeded to lap up all of her juices

TK then began to kiss his way up her body until he reached her breasts. He took one in his mouth and began to lick and suck it as he used one of his hands to massage the other. Whilst Kari moaned beneath him one of her hands became entangled in his hair while the other began to play with his penis.

TK made no move to stop her until he released her breasts and moved back up to eye level. "Ready for the main event?" he asked.

Kari's eyes flicked downward to TK's penis and when she looked up there was a touch of fear in them. It was the first time she had ever actually seen just how big TK truly was. "This is going to hurt isn't it?" she asked.

"Why would it?" TK asked confused.

"Because your cock is so damn huge." Kari said with a gesture towards the aforementioned body part.

"I'll be gentle." TK assured her as he adjusted his position. "Ready?" Kari nodded and TK slowly inserted himself into her.

Kari rolled her eyes, there was such a thing as too gentle. "If you're going to fuck me," she told him, "get on with it and fuck me." TK pulled out a little bit and thrust into her. Kari's breath caught in her throat; it hadn't hurt at all, in fact it felt really good. "More," she begged, "give me more."

TK smiled and thrust into her again, harder this time. "Harder Takeru," Kari ordered, "and faster." TK gladly continued going deeper and faster with each thrust, Kari's moans of pleasure spurring him on.

Finally as he began to feel his peak getting close TK felt Kari clench around him. "Oh god yes!" she screamed, "Oh god Takeru!" Moments later TK let out a similar shout as he came before collapsing next to Kari completely fatigued. "I love you Takeru." She said while nuzzling his chest.

"I love you too Kari." TK said as he draped an arm over her and held her close.


	18. It Begins

Chapter 18: It Begins

"This is impossible!" Richard ranted as he paced back and forth through his room. "How could she break through my hypnosis? It's just not possible."

"I told you not to underestimate her." Betamon hissed from the corner of the room. "That girl has powers you cannot even begin to comprehend."

"You could have told me that earlier!" Richard yelled at his partner.

"I did." Betamon said coldly, "Nearly every day since you decided you wanted her."

"Shut up!" Richard snapped, "What am I going to do now? I'm going to have to fight them in a straight up fight."

"So what," Betamon hissed, "weren't you the one that pointed out that they just don't have the power to defeat us?"

Richard looked up, "You're right," he said calmly, "there's no need to get worked up. We've already won the battle, they don't stand a chance."

"Exactly." Betamon said.

"Yes, we will win." Richard said, "And Kari will be mine." Betamon shook his head; sometimes Richard was very single minded.

"Wake up you two." an annoyed voice said. TK blinked and sat up looking straight at Jack. "Get up," Jack said, "it's time for breakfast. Oh, and put some clothes on before you get there." he added.

"I, wait what?" TK asked still half asleep.

Jack chuckled. "Look to your left." he said before turning and leaving.

TK looked over to his left and his mouth dropped. Kari's eyes suddenly opened and she smiled up at him. "Have a good night?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I, you, we, but, that wasn't a dream." TK stuttered looking down at the naked girl beside him.

Kari giggled. "I'll let you get away with that this time," she told him, "but say something like that again and you'll be sorry."

"I, um, meant that it was so good it was like a dream of paradise." TK said.

"You're so sweet." Kari told him.

"Oh yeah, it's time for breakfast." TK told her as he reached for his pants.

"Are you going to make pancakes?" Kari asked as she pulled her own shorts on.

"Kari, I couldn't cook pancakes if I had a griddle, forget about cooking them over an open fire." He sniffed the air a little, "Besides, smells like the others are roasting some fish."

The 'roasted fish' actually turned out to be more burnt than roasted, a fact which nearly everyone was content to ignore except Kari. It seemed that her first trip to the Digital World had left her with a deep seated hatred of burnt fish in addition to her fear of clowns. She had taken one look at it and declined breakfast.

"So what's our next move?" Melissa asked everyone turned to look at her.

"What do you mean 'our next move'?" Ken asked, "This is our responsibility, you and Jack aren't a part of it."

"They are a part of it." a voice said from behind them. The group turned to see a short balding old man watching them. "All of you are here for a reason."

"Gennai?" Izzy asked, "What are you doing here?"

"And why are you old again?" Kari asked.

"It's the trouble in the Digiworld." Gennai explained. "The digital barrier Richard made is interfering in the way the world functions."

"So how do we get rid of the barrier?" TK asked.

"The program is installed in his digivice," Gennai told them, "if you can get that out of the Digiworld everything should go back to normal."

"How can we get it out of here if the digiports don't work?" Ken asked.

"It should be able to override its own program," Gennai said, "but if it can't you'll have to smash it."

"Why don't we just smash it and stop anyone else from using it?" Jack suggested.

"Because Richard's not going to just hand it over you idiot." Melissa retorted. "It would be easier to just chase him back into our world."

"Neither one of them will be easy." Gennai told them. "Mechaseadramon is a very powerful Digimon; he won't just roll over and die."

"Do we have to kill him?" Wormmon asked.

"Unless you can magically stop him from killing you while you get Richard's digivice." Gennai told him.

"Gennai if the link between worlds is blocked how did we get here?" Izzy asked.

"I pulled you all into the Dark Ocean and through there into this world." Gennai explained.

"Gennai, if we were in the Dark Ocean why didn't Daemon attack us?" Kari asked.

"He didn't attack you because he's not there anymore." Gennai told them.

"What! Where is he then?" TK exclaimed.

"He's dead." Gennai told them.

"What? When? Where? Who? How?" Ken spouted shocked.

"Don't sound so surprised." Gennai scolded him. "There are Digidestined other than yourselves. Daemon was killed two years ago in California on the winter solstice."

"The darkest day." Jack said suddenly. "It was the shortest day of the year and a new moon." he explained.

"Yes," Gennai said, "the darkest day. His name was Lucas, he was the light in the darkness…"

"The Darklight." Melissa suddenly said cutting him off.

"What was that you just said?" Gennai asked quickly.

"Just something that popped into my head, sorry." Melissa told him.

"Okay." Gennai said, though he still eyed her curiously.

"Aren't you going to say anything else?" Kari asked.

"What is there left to say?" Gennai asked. "They fought Lucas won."

"So what do we do now?" Melissa asked.

"Why the hurry?" Jack asked, "Miss your parents that much?"

"Not by a long shot." Melissa hissed, "I just want to get this over with as fast as possible."

"She's right," Izzy said, "the longer we take the more time Richard has to prepare."

"Then let's get going now." TK suggested.

"Do you even know where he is?" Ken asked.

"He doesn't," Kari said, "but I do. So follow me." she said as she began walking east.

"Richard." Betamon said walking out onto the balcony his partner was on, "they're coming."

"Good." Richard said. "This fights about to begin Betamon, make sure you are ready."

"You're sure of this Benjamin?" an enormous tiger asked a man that looked exactly like Gennai.

"Yes Lord Baihumon. Melissa referred to Lucas as the 'Darklight' but couldn't give a reason why. Is there some way the memory block could be wearing off?" Benjamin asked.

"No." Baihumon replied, "The block on those memories still stands, they can't remember anything of that event.

"My lord," Benjamin began, "I must again tell you that choosing five psychics for the experiment may not have been the smartest thing you have ever done."

"It is nothing to worry about." Baihumon said unconcernedly, "As I recall Melissa could always make connections she couldn't explain."

"Lord Baihumon, the Darklight Destined were never meant to see each other again, and here we have the children of luck and defiance not only meeting again but working together. They were always the closest of the Darklights, this may wind up ruining counter to your idea of keeping the parts of the team apart."

"It's of no matter," Baihumon said, "after this time here they will go to college and never see each other again. They'll remember each other only as 'that person I met before college.' Now speak no more of this, you are dismissed."

Benjamin bowed silently and left quickly. He could feel it in his digital bones that it wouldn't happen as Baihumon said it would, and for the millionth time wondered if erasing the memories of the Darklights had been the right thing to do.


	19. Battle of the Sands

Chapter 19: Battle of the Sands

"Bet you never thought you'd be doing this again, huh?" Melissa whispered to Jack. They were walking towards Richard's castle in an attempt to get as close as possible without being spotted. And they were walking right through the desert Jack and Melissa had been in the first time they had come to the Digital World.

"Actually I had actually planned on coming back here." Jack said.

"Why?" Melissa asked, "I thought you hated it as much as I did."

"I was sure you wouldn't follow me here." Jack told her.

"If I remember correctly it was you that always followed me." Melissa said as if he had insulted her.

"You remember incorrectly then." Jack replied calmly.

"I do not." Melissa said irritated. "Just shut up and leave me alone."

"Will you two shut up." Izzy hissed at them, "This is serious."

"Their fault." Jack and Melissa said immediately while pointing to the other one. Upon noticing this they added both a glare to the gesture.

A few yards away Ken asked, "Who do you think will admit their feelings first?"

TK shook his head, "Actually I think they just like to fight." he told Ken.

Kari nodded in agreement, "Not everything is a hidden sign of romance." she added.

"So his castle is in here?" TK asked.

Kari nodded again, "Yeah, we should be able to see it right over the next rise."

"Well the land was certainly cheap," TK commented, "but who'd want this for a view."

"My thoughts exactly." Kari said.

"So, they're trying to sneak in." Richard commented his eyes fixed on a monitor on the wall.

"Yes Richard, they plan on sneaking in here and attacking you before we can react." Betamon told the human.

"Sneak out there yourself and hide in the sand." Richard told Betamon, "After they pass you I'll make you digivolve and we'll catch them between the castle and Mechaseadramon."

"And if they make it into the castle?" Betamon asked, "I'll be far too large to enter."

"If you keep the Digimon outside I'll deal with any humans that get in the castle." Richard said confidently.

"Don't be too overconfident Richard. One mistake now and it will be your last." Betamon warned. Richard brushed the advice off.

"Well here we are." Izzy said as they reached the bottom of a dune by the castle. From where they were their destination was just a short run across a flat piece of sand away.

"Should we just run for it?" Ken asked. The final approach was likely to be the hardest part of all of it.

"Why not," TK said, "I don't see anyone here waiting for us."

"And there aren't many places to hide behind right here." Melissa added backing up the person who was supposed to be her cousin.

"For once I'm in agreement with the wench." Jack said. "Let's make a run for it."

"We've been trying to surprise him this far, and each moment we wait is another moment he could spot us in." Izzy said smartly. They stopped talking about whether or not too after that; majority already ruled, they were running.

They reached the wall of the castle without incident. The gate was on the other side of the building but their plan required the use of a small servant's door on the side they were on. Behind them though the sand erupted in a flash of energy so powerful it pushed them all into the wall of the castle. Out of the sands rose a huge mechanical serpent.

"He was waiting for us." Kari said realization dawning on her. "This is an ambush."

"Thanks, I never would have guessed that." Melissa replied sarcastically from beside her.

As the energy wave died down their bodies stopped being smashed into the wall of the castle. "Guess this means we have to fight." Ken commented gripping his D3.

"Lis, get behind me," Jack whispered, "and do whatever you can to hatch that egg."

"I don't need you to protect me." Melissa retorted, "I can take care of myself."

"I was trying to hide our trump card not protect you." Jack told her as he reached for his own digivice.

"Bullshit." Melissa commented as she unconsciously moved back behind the others.

"Don't even think about it." Kari told TK noting the exchange between Jack and Melissa.

"Wouldn't dream of it." TK replied his hand on his D3. "We fight together remember; Hope and Light."

"Yeah I remember." Kari said as she put her hand on her own D3.

"This shouldn't take too long." Izzy commented. The trembling of his hand as he pulled out his digivice was enough to expose his true feelings though. "Let's get him!"

"Tentomon warp digivolve to Herculeskabuterimon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to Stingmon!"

"Gatomon digivolve to Angewomon!"

"Patamon digivolve to Angemon digivolve to Magnangemon!"

"Bonemon digivolve to Skelemon digivolve to Necromon!"

They were at full power: one mega, three ultimates, and one champion versus Mechaseadramon; whatever level he was at. Mechaseadramon reared up before them the cannon in his snout charging to fire. At his full length the serpentine digimon was nearly as long as the enormous wall ringing the castle. "Tidal Force!" all of the digimon avoided the attack but the sheer power of its wake pushed them even further apart.

"Magna Sword!" Magnangemon yelled slashing at Mechaseadramon. The attack bounced almost harmlessly off the serpent's armor.

"Spiking Strike!" Mechaseadramon completely ignored Stingmon and his attack; it had no effect on the giant serpent whatsoever.

"Mega Electroshocker!" the blast of electric energy forced Mechaseadramon back a bit. It was the closest they had come so far to actually doing damage to the beast.

Mechaseadramon turned towards the giant insect that had blasted him. "Tidal Force!" Herculeskabuterimon dodged most of the blast, but it caught one of his legs and hurled him back into the wall of the castle.

"Dark Slash!"

"Celestial Arrow!" the two attacks glanced all but harmlessly off Mechaseadramon's armored exterior and prompted a retaliatory strike they both dodged.

"This is going nowhere." TK complained while watching the battle above him.

"They're not getting any closer to defeating him." Ken conceded, "And it almost looks like he's playing with them."

Jack looked up at the small figures buzzing around Mechaseadramon and Herculeskabuterimon in the sky, TK was right they were getting nowhere. He looked around him searching for something he could do to help out. Jack's eyes fell on the servants' door they had planned on using to enter the castle and a plan began to form in his mind. It was stupid, crazy, and possibly suicidal, but it was a plan.

"Takaishi, if I die here make sure my body gets a good burial." Jack said to TK before turning towards the door and taking off at full speed.

"What the hell is he thinking?" Izzy wondered aloud. "If there are any Digimon in there they'll eat him alive."

"He's realized we're not getting anywhere out here and decided to do something about it." Melissa said.

"Are you saying we should follow him?" Ken asked. His answer was cut off by Mechaseadramon's tail colliding with the servants' door; no one was using that anymore.

"You don't think that Jack?" Kari asked not actually finishing the question.

"No, he made it." Melissa said confidently. "Jack's still alive, for now."

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Dark Slash!"

"Spiking Strike!"

"Magna Sword!" another group of attacks bounced off of Mechaseadramon.

"Tidal Force!" the four digimon scattered to avoid the blast and were further scattered by its wake.

"Mega Electroshocker!" another of Herculeskabuterimon's attacks hit home and did some slight damage to the armored serpent.

"Tidal Force!" the attack hit Herculeskabuterimon and sent the giant bug back into the castle wall.

The castle hallways were completely empty. Jack would have given up trying to move quietly if it hadn't been for a nagging feeling that it couldn't be this easy. As he reached the top of a staircase he suddenly saw a person standing around the corner of the hallway. As he reached the juncture he swung around it with his arm out and felt it connect with flesh. Outside the castle a small green glow began to build around Necromon.

Richard was shocked when Jack's fist connected with his face. There was no way he could have known that he was there, none. He therefore concluded that Jack was swinging his fist around each corner like that. He didn't let his surprise phase him though, and immediately kicked out at Jack sending the man backwards and onto the ground.

Jack however grabbed a handful of Richard's shirt and dragged the Kaiser down with him. He had listened to what Ken and TK had said about the man and wasn't about to underestimate him, despite his past accomplishments. The two hit the floor and began to roll around wrestling and throwing punches each one trying to gain the upper hand.

As the reached the top of the stairs Richard managed to get on top and began to rain punches down on Jack's head. Jack desperately searched for a way out of the predicament and his hand brushed against something he had in his pocket. It was the knife Kari had used to try and kill TK, which he had picked up in the aftermath. Jack grabbed the knife in one hand and yanked it out of his pocket, across Richard's stomach and up towards the Kaiser's shoulder. Richard howled in pain and kicked Jack off him and down the stairs before turning and hurrying away down the hallway.

Outside the castle the glow surrounding Necromon began to intensify, but no one paid it any mind. The digimon were now having a much harder time dodging Mechaseadramon's attacks. It seemed the serpent had finally gauged the abilities of his opponents. His attacks were now so frequent and well aimed that the digimon had almost no time to counterattack.

Back inside the castle Jack laid at the bottom of the steps for a little while to catch his breath before getting to his feet and attempting to follow Richard. The trail wasn't hard to follow, Richard was bleeding heavily and the crimson splatters of his blood were a stark contrast against the grey of the stone floor.

Jack followed the drips on the floor as quickly as he could, speeding up to a swift jog as he got his breath back. As he reached a corner his foot slid in an abnormally large pool of blood and he fell forward just as Richard spun out from behind the corner arm out as Jack's own had been earlier.

Jack however was down lower because he had slipped in the blood so Richard's strike went over his head. Jack, however, fell forward, shoulder first, into Richard's groin. The red haired man fell backwards in completely unexpected pain and Jack went down with him. Neither one of them noticed the green gleam under Jack's shirt.

Outside the castle the group had finally decided on a plan to take down Mechaseadramon, a single simultaneous strike using all the rest of the energy they had left. Then the green aura around Necromon reached its peak and he digivolved. The blade of the scythe became an ankh that moved up on top of the handle. A small covering of thin shriveled skin covered his bones and his cloak became a little rattier. "Necromon digivolve to Lichmon!"

"What just happened?" Izzy asked in surprise.

"Either Jack just did something really lucky or he just gambled and won." Melissa said remembering the crest conversation from what seemed like months ago back in the diner.

"So are we still go for that plan?" TK asked.

"More than ever." Izzy replied.

TK held his D3 in the air and released a beam of light from it, the signal to begin the attack.

"Spiking Strike!"

"Gate of Destiny!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Magic of Unlife!"

"Giga Scissorclaw!" the combined strength of the attacks converged on Mechaseadramon and blasted him back into the castle wall in a ball of blinding light.

In the castle Jack had Richard down and was about to grab the digivice when a blast shook the castle and tossed him off his feet. Richard took off again and Jack pursued him, again. Jack caught up and tackled Richard at an entrance to the courtyard. Out in the yard the Kaiser and the Prophet were about to witness the end of the battle to decide the fate of this world.

The digidestined entered the courtyard through a knocked down wall holding their In-training partners and Skullmon. From the smoke and dust a single figure rose up, it was a long metal plated sea serpent. Metalseadramon glared down at the people and digimon that had caused him so much trouble, "This is it Digidestined." he declared, "Now is when you die."

As Metalseadramon charged up his cannon Melissa through herself between the serpent and her friends, "NO!" she yelled, "I won't let you do this."

The only sound that interrupted the silence that followed was a crack, then another crack, and then the air was filled with the sound of cracking. With each crack a line appeared in the egg Melissa was holding and from each crack radiated a red-orange glow. Finally the top burst off the egg and a small black blob surrounded by the same red-orange aura popped out. Melissa stared at the blob in shock as it began to digivolve. "Pakamon digivolve to Minidevimon digivolve to Demidevimon digivolve to Devimon digivolve to Myotismon digivolve to Piedmon."

The clown digimon hovered in front of Metalseadramon blocking his path to the digidestined. "So you're back too." Piedmon stated.

"Welcome back Piedmon," Metalseadramon said, "come on, now we can finally destroy the digidestined and regain control of the digital world."

Piedmon shook his head sadly. "You just don't get it do you?" he asked Metalseadramon looked confused. "We didn't actually rule anything; digimon just did what we said while we were around because we could kill them. The digital world cannot be ruled, the sovereigns know that, it's why they stay out of things."

"I'm taking back control of this world." Metalseadramon declared, "Whether I have too go through you or not."

"Don't be an idiot." Piedmon chastised. "You were the first one to go for a reason, you were the weakest master. Don't throw you're life away over nothing."

"River of …"

"Trump Sword!" Piedmon yelled throwing all four swords into Metalseadramon and deleting him before he could even launch his attack.

"You did it!" Jack yelled forgetting Richard to run to congratulate Melissa. "You stupid contrary wench, you hatched him good and saved us all!" he declared clasping her in a hug. Then completely spontaneously he kissed Melissa, right on the lips, the sand whipping around them. Just as they began to get into it a cough brought the two back to reality. Melissa immediately coughed and began to spit as if she could get his taste out of her mouth, Jack did the same.

"I still hate you bastard." she told him.

"And I still hate you wench." Jack clarified.

"What happened to Richard?" TK asked anxiously.

"He was right over there." Jack said turning to point to where he had been earlier. In the hall they saw the flash of a closing digiport.

"He's gone now." Kari said. "It's over, it's finally over."

Richard came out in a dark alley and stumbled towards the road. He was hurt bad, real bad. He needed to get to a hospital soon; he had lost far too much blood in the castle. He grabbed onto the first person he saw, "Please help me." he croaked, "I need to get to a hospital." Looking up he saw he had grabbed a woman, a woman he had seen before, a woman he had seen naked before. And somehow she recognized him too. "Oh shit." he mumbled before sinking to the ground.


	20. Many Partings

Chapter 20: Many Partings

"So, it's all over now." Melissa said leaning back in the couch back behind the stage, "Right?"

After Richard had gotten out of the digital world the gates had cleared up allowing them to go home. Ken had returned to Japan and Izzy to Maine while the others, under Jack's suggestion, had gone to Los Angeles and arrived just in time to catch the last concert of The Wolves' American tour. What had followed was a long lecture about not running off on your brother and not leaving him any idea where you had gone with scattered hints that eloping wasn't an acceptable idea.

And then TK and Kari had had their say about what had gone on in the last few weeks this time punctuated by a pink haired ditz's comments of 'how cute' and her blue haired boyfriend's comments on some of the risks they had taken. There were a few things they had left out of the story however; according to what they said both TK and Kari were still virgins. Whether it counted when that happened in the digital world no one knew, and they weren't likely to find out.

"Yeah, it's over." Kari replied as she leaned back as well. "It had better be. I'm looking forward to a normal end to my summer.

"Hey." the short singer from the warm up band said as she took a seat on the edge of the couch, Kari and Melissa gave her a quick wave. The Wolves were playing now so the other band was free for the rest of the evening. "I can't wait until this is over." She admitted, "I feel like I haven't slept in my own bed in a year."

"That's probably because you haven't." the long haired rhythm guitarist said while on his way out.

The singer opened her mouth to say something back but stopped when the door closed. "Asshole." she said to herself. She looked back up and saw Kari and Melissa again, "Sorry, I'm Stephanie but my friends call me Shorty."

Kari nodded, "I'm Kari."

"I'm Melissa but my friends call me, um, Melissa." Melissa said with a laugh.

"Nice to meet you." Shorty said. "So, what have you been doing with Jack all summer?" she asked.

"Doing with Jack?" Melissa asked with an eyebrow raised, "He's been following us around like a sad little puppy." Kari shook her head sadly; Melissa did as much following as Jack did.

"You've got it bad." Shorty commented giving Kari a quick joking wink.

"I do not." Melissa said, from her angle she hadn't caught the wink.

"Oh you don't do you?" Kari asked joining in giving the girl a hard time. "Then how come you always seem to end up alone with him?" Melissa gave Kari a glare.

"There's nothing wrong with it." Shorty said. "Everyone wants Jack at some point, there's no reason to be ashamed."

"I'm not ashamed of anything." Melissa growled, "I can't stand Jack."

"And what was with that kiss this morning?" Kari asked, "It certainly didn't seem like you couldn't stand him then."

"Oooohh, kissing each other-" she didn't get any farther; Melissa got up and stormed off.

"I think we went a bit too far." Kari said.

Shorty shrugged, "She'll get over it. Besides it wasn't that we went too far it's that we got too deep."

"Too deep?" Kari asked

"When I started teasing her I didn't honestly know she liked Jack." Shorty explained. "She really does have a thing for him and she panicked when we started bringing up things she couldn't deny."

"That sounds pretty accurate." Kari said, "How did you get so good at this?"

"I've known Jack for a pretty long time." Shorty admitted, "Both definitions. That's the same way I acted back in the day."

"Uh huh." Kari said resting with a sigh. "What's the difference between like and love?" she asked suddenly.

"Spit or swallow." Shorty replied, she sounded completely serious.

"If we, um, haven't done that yet?" Kari asked her cheeks a little pink.

"Get on it as fast as you can." Shorty told her. A second later she laughed, "I was just kidding." she said. "Love is," she paused, "well it's hard to describe. It's like when your with the person everything seems right, and when they're not there it feels like there's something missing. I can't really say anymore; when it's love, somehow you just know."

"That all sounds right," Kari said, "but I don't feel like I can really trust myself."

"Stop it." Shorty said, "Trust yourself, you'll never steer you wrong."

Kari nodded, "Thanks."

"No problem." Shorty said as she stood up. "Now I have to go, there's a pothead guitarist in the bus that needs to be reminded who he can make jokes about." the two laughed a little as she left.

"So how are things going between you and Mimi?" TK asked Joe.

Joe looked at TK in thought, on odd contemplative look on his face. Without a word he pulled something small out of his pocket and tossed it to TK.

TK looked down to see what he had caught; it was a gold ring with a good sized diamond on top. "You're thinking of proposing?" he asked.

"Already did." Joe said his voice revealing nothing.

"And she turned you down." TK said sadly looking at the ring, he had no idea how Joe had managed to afford it.

"No, she accepted." Joe said. TK looked up at him confused. "She said she didn't want the ring, told me to return it and get my money back."

"This is the same Mimi I know from back home right?" TK inquired.

Joe chuckled, "Yes it's the same Mimi from before. Problem is I can't return the ring."

"Why not, did you steal it or something?" TK asked.

"No nothing like that." Joe assured him. "But you do realize that I can't just walk back into the store and return it, right?"

"Why not?" TK asked.

"It would look like she said no." Joe said as it was obvious.

"So, you're afraid of what people will think?" TK asked.

"You just don't get it." Joe said shaking his head. "Now I have a deal for you."

"A deal?" TK asked, "What, do you want me to return it for you?"

"No not like that." Joe said. "Here's the deal: I can't keep it, Mimi won't take it, and I can't return it. So I'm passing it off to you."

TK blinked as the words sunk in. "Me?" he squeaked, "Why me?"

"Take a look around." Joe suggested, "You're the most likely to use it."

"W, where did you get that idea?" TK asked.

"I looked at you and Kari." Joe said. "Just save it for when you need it."

"Um, yeah sure." TK said, "Thanks Joe."

Both their heads whipped around as Melissa stormed past them angrily. "What's up her ass?" Joe asked.

TK shrugged, "Where's Jack?" he asked.

"That way." Joe said pointing to where Melissa had gone, "Oh, I get it now."

Kari ran up to the two of them, "Have you guys seen Melissa?" she asked, "Me and one of Jack's friends were teasing her and I wanted to apologize."

"Okay, come on." TK said heading the way Melissa had gone. "With any luck we'll find her before she kills someone." seeing the look on Kari's face he immediately added, "I was just joking."

Melissa was leaning back against a wall in front of the stage. How could they even think the she had a thing for Jack? She couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him for very long.

There were a group of guys and girls her age standing across from her. "Hey, Willis, take a look at that girl." one of them said, "Bet even you can't get her."

Willis was an okay looking guy with spiky blonde hair, "Don't make bets you can't win Steve." Willis said, "There's no girl I can't get." he boasted. Willis detached himself from his group and walked over to Melissa; his group slowly inched after him, "Hey there, my name's Willis." he said, "How's the night treating you?"

Melissa was, to say the least, not in the mood for some guy that thought he was hot stuff. "Like a load of shit." she told him, "Really sorry 'Little Willy' but you just don't have what I'm looking for, if you get my meaning." With that she walked off back to where she had been earlier.

Willis blinked in surprise, that wasn't something that happened everyday. "Looks like you just got shot down Little Willy." Steve commented. Those girls and guys that had understood what Melissa was referring to sniggered a little causing Willis to blush.

TK and Kari were still looking for Melissa, but to no avail. "This is getting us nowhere," Kari commented, "We haven't seen Melissa, or Jack, or even anyone else we know."

"I know." TK said, "Do you think we should give up?"

Before Kari could answer their attention was grabbed by a brown haired goggled boy running towards them yelling her name loudly. Just as he had nearly reached them an arm shot out of the crowd and caught the boy in the neck knocking him to the ground, once he hit it a kick to the head knocked him out of it.

TK and Kari looked up to see the owner of the arm, Jack. "That wasn't really necessary," TK said, "he's a friend, sort of."

Jack shrugged, "Sorry," he offered, "but after the last guy who was that obsessed with her I didn't want to take a chance."

Kari laughed a little, "You two pick him up; we should take him backstage so no one steps on him." TK and Jack complied with her order, picking up Davis' unconscious body and dragging it back towards the stage.

A tall man standing by the door in an old black trench coat, with long pure white hair, and jet black eyes had been watching the two American digidestined intently. "They really don't seem to be doing that badly Lopmon." he commented to a small rabbit like digimon by his legs.

"They don't seem all that different either." Lopmon replied.

A man in a worn brown robe with short spiky brown hair suddenly appeared beside them, neither the tall man nor the digimon showed any surprise. "Hello Lucas, I thought I'd find you here." he said.

"Nice to see you too Obi-wan." Lucas said. "What brings you to my world today?"

"My name is Benjamin." Benjamin said, "And I'm here to check up on a few loose ends."

"To the tiger maybe, but to us you'll always be Obi-wan." Lucas said. "They weren't supposed to get involved were they?" he asked, "This was supposed to be another one of my jobs."

"They're all supposed to be your jobs Lucas, that's why you were allowed to remember. You're the one we call in to troubleshoot." Benjamin said. "So now that they met again what's going to happen?" he wondered aloud.

"Not what Baihumon wants to happen." Lucas told him.

"Good." Benjamin whispered. A second later Benjamin simply vanished, a moment after that Lucas and Lopmon left through the door. Lucas looked up at the sky and smiled when he saw a two tailed comet streak by.

"Hey," Jack said leaning back against a wall Melissa was standing by, "what's up?"

"Nothing that concerns you Jack." Melissa said.

"I'm honored," Jack said with a mock bow, "you used my name."

"Don't ruin it by being an ass." Melissa said, "I'm really not in the mood."

Jack sighed, "I guess I'm not either." he admitted. "So this is the end of it all huh?"

"Yeah," Melissa said, "this is the end. You, Kari, TK, me; we're all going to go our separate ways and probably never see each other again."

Jack shook his head, "No, you won't see us, but we'll see you. You're getting to that age where your parents are going to want you to tag along to every little thing they do."

"That's too bad." Melissa said sarcastically, "I'm not going to college anywhere near Chicago. They can't ignore me my whole life and then expect me to be waiting around to help them when they decide they want me."

"Good," Jack said, "don't let them push you around. Don't be bitter though, if you get bitter you'll grow up to be the same as they are."

"I'm not bitter," Melissa said, "just disappointed." She sighed again and leaned back against the wall, "Why are we like this?" she asked.

"Like what?" Jack asked.

"How come we always argue, but then there are times like these when we have a real, civil, meaningful conversation?"

Jack shrugged, "Sometimes the people that understand you best are the ones that hate you. Then again I doubt that we really hate each other."

"What was up with that kiss, in the desert?" Melissa asked.

Jack looked down at his feet, "I don't know," he admitted, "it just felt right."

"I guess it did feel kind of right." Melissa admitted, "I'm going to miss you after we go our separate ways, life just won't be the same without someone like you to argue with. It's too bad we'll never meet up again"

"I'll miss you too." Jack said. "But we're going to meet up again, I can feel it."

"Whatever," Melissa said giving Jack a sudden hug, "see you some other time Argumentative Bastard."

"Later, Contrary Wench." Jack said returning the hug. "Hey," he said pointing out the window, "you don't see one of those too often." He was pointing out the window at a two tailed comet.

"Bullshit," Melissa told him, "I've seen one every two years since I was fourteen."

"I can remember those." Jack told her. "I don't remember any before them though."

"I don't either," Melissa said, "but I guess they had to start coming around sometime."

"Yeah, I guess." Jack said looking back out the window.

A nineteen year old on the outskirts of San Francisco watched a two tailed comet streak by from the top of his car. "That was cool." he said to the girl beside him.

"What was cool?" she asked.

"The comet." he said pointing at the sky.

"Carlos, there was no comet." she said. "Did you get smacked in the head with a soccer ball again?"

"Yeah, probably." Carlos said turning back towards the sky. Despite what he had said he knew he had seen a comet.

A glass of cold water to the face brought Davis back almost immediately. "What are you doing here Davis?" Kari asked the goggle head angrily.

"What am I doing here, what is he doing here?" Davis shot back gesturing towards TK. "I came over here to keep him away from you."

"I don't need you to watch over me Davis." Kari told him. "I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."

"That doesn't explain why he's here." Davis said still gesturing towards TK.

"We made up." Kari said. "We're back together now."

"But, but, but I love you." Davis stammered.

Kari sighed, "I don't know how many times I've had to say this Davis, but I don't love you back. You're just good friend."

"Fine," Davis said, "I'm going home. And if you ever hurt her I swear you'll be sorry." Davis said shoving a finger in TK's face before stalking off.

"Don't worry," TK said to Davis' back while fingering the ring in his pocket, "I won't."

"Sorry about him." Kari said, "I should have realized he would never give up on me."

"It's not your fault." TK said, "I should have known that Yolei and Cody couldn't keep quiet about me being here for long and that he'd overreact and run in to save you." He smiled a little, "You know, when you talk about Davis never giving up on you, you make him sound a lot like me."

"God forbid that you start to act like him." Kari laughed hugging TK. "So what are we going to do when the summer ends?" she asked.

"I don't know." TK admitted, "Maybe we can be like Tai and Sora and visit each other in the summer, or I could transfer to college in America, or maybe you could even come back to Japan. One thing's for sure though, I don't want this to end here; I won't stop loving you just because we're on opposite sides of the world."

"I don't want it to end either." Kari said holding him tighter, "We'll find some way to make this work."

"Yeah," TK breathed, "we'll find a way. Love will find a way."


	21. Epilogue: Closing

img width0 height0 loop100 dynsrc"http/ src"http/ Closing

'Dear Diary;

It's me again, as always. Been awhile since the last time I wrote something, but I've been busy. Today's the first day of college so I'm kinda nervous. I guess that explains why I'm writing an entry in the morning. Life's going well for all of us, I got a letter from Kari yesterday; she decided to go to college over in Japan, and TK somehow mustered up enough nerve and cash to propose to her. A bit early in my book, they're both still only eighteen, but if it's what they want they might as well go for it. I probably don't have to mention this but Kari said yes. I won't be seeing any ceremony though; they're going to get married over in Japan. I haven't heard anything from the others; Kari's letter said that Izzy and Ken are both doing well though, so I'm not too worried. No one's heard anything from Jack, but I'm not too surprised: he doesn't seem like the type to write letters. I hope he doesn't get his hand on my phone number though; he'd probably subject me to endless midnight calls (lol). As a birthday present TK and Kari sent me an advance copy of the new Teenage Wolves cd (Matt is soooo hot). Suckers, I'm born in May not September. Richard got what was coming to him; according to the papers he was arrested the day he escaped form us. It seems that he had been raping girls all over the Yonkers area, I'm really happy we managed to keep Kari away from him; I hope he gets the chair for what he's done. As Jack said my parents seemed a bit overly interested in getting me back into their affairs and, of course, introducing me to the sons of numerous associates. I'd never go out with any of them, there's just something they don't have. Demi agrees with me, and I see no reason to doubt his judgment. Maybe if one of them were a digidestined too it'd be different; after the whole digiworld experience it just seems like everyone is kinda boring. I probably should be going now; class is probably going to start soon.

Hasta luego, Lis

Melissa pushed her blonde hair out of her face and stretched backwards tipping her chair back. Her eyes glanced at the clock and she jumped in surprise. The chair tipped too far and she fell back first onto the floor. One of the good things about having money was that she wasn't staying in a dorm, one of the bad things was that the house wasn't all that close to the college. In a rush she grabbed her keys and ran out of the house, nearly forgetting her books in the process. After retrieving them and hurrying out she drove like she had never driven before.

Once she reached the campus she sloppily slid her car into a space next to a Volvo and leapt out. She ran full speed towards her destination, forcing a few people to jump out of the way of a girl who was nearly late for American Lit. She hurried into class and plopped down in a seat near the back breathing heavily.

Momentarily another person sat down beside her. "You know, after you nearly smack a person's car it's polite to apologize." the person said.

Melissa looked up about to do just that. Her mind froze when she saw a familiar face wearing ever so familiar sunglasses. "Y, you." she stuttered.

Jack smiled, "Yeah it's me," he told her, "I said we'd meet up again didn't I." Without warning he pulled off his glasses.

It was the second time Melissa had seen his eyes. She still couldn't tell what color they were but there was something different about them now. They weren't the eyes he had at the carnival, the ones she hated, they radiated a different feeling; friendship maybe. "It's good to see you again." she said before reaching out and hugging him, he returned the gesture. "You were right about my parents. They keep trying to drag me to these stupid parties and then try to set me up with these idiot rich brats."

Jack chuckled a little, "Maybe you should bring me along to one of these stupid parties." he suggested. "It'd probably cause a bit of a stir."

"That it would," Melissa admitted, "that it would. It might even get my parents off my back for awhile if you pretend to be my boyfriend."

"Glad to help." Jack said. A second later he stuck out his hand, "Jack Collins."

Melissa took his hand slowly and unsurely, "Melissa Drake." she hazarded.

Jack shook her hand, "Friends?"

Melissa smiled and nodded, "Friends." she said.


End file.
